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The mechanism of enzyme catalysis :In order for a reaction to occur, reactant molecules must contain sufficient energy to cross a potential energy barrier, the activation energy. All molecules possess varying amounts of energy depending, for example, on their recent collision history but, generally, only a few have sufficient energy for reaction. The lower the potential energy barrier to reaction, the more reactants have sufficient energy and, hence, the faster the reaction will occur. All catalysts, including enzymes, function by forming a transition state, with the reactants, of lower free energy than would be found in the uncatalysed reaction (Figure 1.1). Even quite modest reductions in this potential energy barrier may produce large increases in the rate of reaction (e.g. the activation energy for the uncatalysed breakdown of hydrogen peroxide to oxygen and water is 76 kJ M-1 whereas, in the presence of the enzyme catalase, this is reduced to...

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