The equilibrium for formation of the intramolecular hydrogen bond (K HB ) in a series of substituted salicylate monoanions was investigated as a function of ⌬pK a , the difference between the pK a values of the hydrogen bond donor and acceptor, in both water and dimethyl sulfoxide. The dependence of log K HB upon ⌬pK a is linear in both solvents, but is steeper in dimethyl sulfoxide (slope ؍ 0.73) than in water (slope ؍ 0.05). Thus, hydrogen bond strength can undergo substantially larger increases in nonaqueous media than aqueous solutions as the charge density on the donor or acceptor atom increases. These results support a general mechanism for enzymatic catalysis, in which hydrogen bonding to a substrate is strengthened as charge rearranges in going from the ground state to the transition state; the strengthening of the hydrogen bond would be greater in a nonaqueous enzymatic active site than in water, thus providing a rate enhancement for an enzymatic reaction relative to the solution reaction. We suggest that binding energy of an enzyme is used to fix the substrate in the low-dielectric active site, where the strengthening of the hydrogen bond in the course of a reaction is increased.Electronic rearrangement typically occurs in the course of a reaction, resulting in changes in the charge density of functional groups on the reactant. This is shown in Scheme I for the example of the triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) reaction.As the reaction proceeds from the ground state to the transition state, negative charge accumulates on the carbonyl oxygen, as reflected by the Ϸ10-unit increase in the pK a of this group. [The pK a of the carbonyl oxygen in the ground state is estimated to be Ϫ2 to 0; the pK a of the enol hydroxyl in a fully enolic transition state is estimated to be Ϸ10 (1).] The hydrogen bond (H bond) from a histidine residue of TIM to the carbonyl oxygen can be strengthened by this charge buildup (depicted by the darker dots in Scheme I). However, to obtain a rate enhancement relative to the solution reaction, the strengthening of an H bond to an enzymatic group in the course of a reaction must be greater than the strengthening of the corresponding H bond to water.Could the environment of the enzyme active site increase the change in H bond strength accompanying charge rearrangements relative to that in water? To address this question, we used the aprotic organic solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a crude mimic of the active site environment and investigated the energetics of the intramolecular H bond in a series of substituted salicylate monoanions in both DMSO and water. There is a larger increase in H bond strength in DMSO than in water as the pK a values of the H bonding groups are varied. We suggest that a substantial amount of catalysis can be obtained by enzymes from the greater strengthening of H bonds accompanying charge rearrangements in nonaqueous environments than in aqueous solutions.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Materials.The indicators 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-nitrophenol and 9-carboxym...