Breaking Bacterial Cell Walls with Organic Chemistgry
Enzymes catalyze metabolic reactions, the flow of genetic information, the
synthesis of molecules that provide biological structure, and help defend us
against infections and disease.
All reactions catalyzed by enzymes occur on the basis of rational chemical
reactivity.
The mechanisms utilized by enzymes are essentially those in organic chemistry.
Lysozyme:
Lysozyme is an enzyme in nasal mucus that fights infection by degrading
bacterial cell walls.
Lysozyme generates a carbocation within the molecular architecture of the
bacterial cell wall.
i) Lysozyme stabilizes the carbocation by providing a nearby negatively charged
site from its own structure.
ii) It facilitates cleavage of cell wall, yet does not involve bonding of lysozyme
itself with the carbocation intermediate in the cell wall.
6.1 INTRODUCTION
Classes of Organohalogen Compounds (Organohalides):
Alkyl halides: a halogen atom is bonded to an sp^3 -hybridized carbon.
CH 2 Cl 2 CHCl 3 CH 3 I CF 2 Cl 2
dichloromethane trichloromethane iodomethane dichlorodifluoromethane
methylene chloride chloroform methyl iodide Freon-12
