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. 1977 Sep 1;165(3):575–580. doi: 10.1042/bj1650575

A novel mechanism of enzymic ester hydrolysis. Inversion of configuration and carbon-oxygen bond cleavage by secondary alkylsulphohydrolases from detergent-degrading micro-organisms.

B Bartholomew, K S Dodgson, G W Matcham, D J Shaw, G F White
PMCID: PMC1164941  PMID: 921766

Abstract

The hydrolysis was studied of potassium (+)-octan-2-yl sulphate by two analogous, optically stereospecific, secondary alkylsulphohydrolases purified from two detergent-degrading micro-organisms, Comamonas terrigena and Pseudomonas C12B. Polarimetry studies have shown that (+)-octan-2-yl sulphate prepared from (+)-octan-2-ol is hydrolysed by both enzymes to yield (-)-octan-2-ol. This inversion of configuration implies that the enzymes are catalysing the scission of the C-O bond of the C-O-S linkage, a type of bond scission apparently not hitherto encountered among hydrolytic enzymes acting on ester bonds. Enzymic hydrolysis of potassium (+)-octan-2-yl sulphate in the presence of H218O and analysis of hydrolysis products for the presence of 18O has confirmed that C-O bond scission (and not O-S bond scission) occurs with both enzymes.

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Selected References

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