I. The rates of hydrolysis of nitrophenyl esters, catalyzed by bovine carbonic anhydrase, depend on the position of the nitro group and on the size of the acyl residue. The most rapidly hydrolyzed substrate of those investigated is p-nitrophenyl acetate. The catalyzed rates are proportional to both enzyme and ester concentrations. Only in the case of m-nitrophenyl acetate could a value of the Michaelis constant, K , , be estimated, approximately 10 mM. Product inhibition by o-nitrophenol occurs during the enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of o-nitrophenyl acetate.2 . The metal specificity of the enzyme seems to be independent of the substrate. Zn(I1) and Co(I1) are about equally effective in restoring esterase activity to the apoenzyme while all other metal ions studied do not activate or have a very small effect.3. The pH-dependence of the esterase activity of both Zn(I1)-and Co(I1)-carbonic anhydrase is very similar to that of the CO, hydration activity, and the basic form of a group with a pK near 7 is required for both reactions. Anionic inhibitors are strongly bound to the enzyme when this group is in its acidic form, but the inhibition is almost abolished a t alkaline pH.4. The inhibitory powers of cyanide and sulfide decrease a t acid as well as at alkaline pH. The results agree with the assumption that, formally, CN-and HS-do not bind to the basic form of the enzyme, while HCN and H,S do not bind to the acidic form.Carbonic anhydrase catalyses the reversible hydration of carbon dioxide with an exceptionally high turnover [l]. I n addition, the enzyme has been shown to act on a number of other carbonyl systems. Pocker and Meany reported the carbonic anhydrasecatalyzed hydration of acetaldehyde [2] and pyridine aldehydes [3,4]. The hydrolysis of certain esters is also catalyzed by the enzyme and this activity has been utilized by several investigators, who used p-nitrophenyl acetate (p-NPA) and other phenolic esters as substrates [5-lo]. Recently, a cyclic sulfonate ester has been shown to be an extraordinarily good substrate [ll] although still surpassed by carbon dioxide by several orders of magnitude.We have studied the kinetics of the hydrolysis of p-NPA and some related substrates to obtain further information about the catalytic mechanism of carbonic anhydrase. The apparent Michaelis constants for these substances are large and could not be determined due to the limited solubility of the substrates in water. Although it may not be feasible to use these Enzyme. Carbonic anhydrase or carbonate hydro-lyase (EC 4.2.1.1).