Hydration of acetone in the gas phase and in water solvent

2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiyull Yang ◽  
Yih-Huang Hsieh ◽  
Chan-Kyung Kim ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
Saul Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Proton Transfer ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Isotope Effects ◽  
Bond Formation ◽  
Transition States ◽  
Water Solvent ◽  
Cooperative Process

In water solvent, the hydration of acetone proceeds by a cyclic (cooperative) process in which concurrent C–O bond formation and proton transfer to oxygen take place through a solvent and (or) catalyst bridge. Reactivity is determined primarily by the concentration of a reactant complex and not the barrier from this complex. This situation is reversed in the gas phase; although the concentrations of reactive complexes are much higher than in solution, the barriers are also higher and dominant in determining reactivity. Calculations of isotope effects suggest that multiple hydron transfers are synchronous in the gas phase to avoid zwitterionic transition states. In solution, such transition states are stabilized by solvation and hydron transfers can be asynchronous.

scholarly journals The transition state for peptide bond formation reveals the ribosome as a water trap

2010 ◽  
Vol 107 (5) ◽  
pp. 1888-1893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Göran Wallin ◽  
Johan Åqvist
Keyword(s):  
Water Molecule ◽  
Transition State ◽  
Activation Enthalpy ◽  
Molecular Model ◽  
Isotope Effects ◽  
Bond Formation ◽  
Transition States ◽  
Peptide Bond ◽  
Hydroxyl Group ◽  
Peptide Bond Formation

Recent progress in elucidating the peptide bond formation process on the ribosome has led to notion of a proton shuttle mechanism where the 2'-hydroxyl group of the P-site tRNA plays a key role in mediating proton transfer between the nucleophile and leaving group, whereas ribosomal groups do not actively participate in the reaction. Despite these advances, the detailed nature of the transition state for peptidyl transfer and the role of several trapped water molecules in the peptidyl transferase center remain major open questions. Here, we employ high-level quantum chemical ab initio calculations to locate and characterize global transition states for the reaction, described by a molecular model encompassing all the key elements of the reaction center. The calculated activation enthalpy as well as structures are in excellent agreement with experimental data and point to feasibility of an eight-membered “double proton shuttle” mechanism in which an auxiliary water molecule, observed both in computer simulations and crystal structures, actively participates. A second conserved water molecule is found to be of key importance for stabilizing developing negative charge on the substrate oxyanion and its presence is catalytically favorable both in terms of activation enthalpy and entropy. Transition states calculated both for six- and eight-membered mechanisms are invariably late and do not involve significant charge development on the attacking amino group. Predicted kinetic isotope effects consistent with this picture are similar to those observed for uncatalyzed ester aminolysis reactions in solution.

Marcus theory and the existence or non-existence of transition states in gas phase deprotonation of carbon acids

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 1465-1469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saul Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Proton Transfer ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Transition States ◽  
Marcus Theory ◽  
Energy Change ◽  
Transfer Reactions ◽  
Gas Phase Reactions ◽  
Proton Transfer Reactions ◽  
Carbon Acids ◽  
Computational Level

At the 3-21G (3-21G*) computational level, the intrinsic barriers associated with proton transfer between XCH2− and CH3X have been found to be essentially constant (ca. 10 kcal/mol) for X = H, F, SH, Cl. According to the Marcus rate-equilibrium treatment of proton transfer reactions, this result means that transition states should not exist for gas phase reactions [Formula: see text], when the energy change exceeds 20 kcal/mol. This prediction has been confirmed for two cases (X = H, F) in which the energy change is less than 20 kcal/mol, and two cases (X = SH, Cl) in which the energy change is greater than 20 kcal/mol.

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