The stereochemical course of reduction of dienoyl-coenzyme A (CoA) thiolesters catalyzed by the 2,4-dienoyl-CoA reductase from rat liver mitochondria was investigated. The configuration of the double bond in the 3-enoyl-CoA products was determined by (1)H NMR, and experiments to determine the stereochemical course of reduction at Calpha and Cdelta by use of 4-(2)H-labeled beta-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, reduced form (NADPH), were conducted in H(2)O and D(2)O. Defining the diastereoselectivity of the reaction, catalyzed by the Delta(3),Delta(2)-enoyl-CoA isomerase, facilitated the determination of the stereochemical course of reduction by 2, 4-dienoyl-CoA reductase. The absence of solvent exchange of the proton transferred during the Delta(3),Delta(2)-enoyl-CoA isomerase catalyzed equilibration of trans-2- and trans-3-enoyl-CoAs, coupled with the strong sequence homology to enoyl-CoA hydratase support the intramolecular suprafacial transfer of the pro-2R proton of trans-3-enoyl-CoA to the pro-4R position of trans-2-enoyl-CoA. The results indicate that the configuration of the double bond of the 3-enoyl-CoA product is trans and that a general acid-catalyzed addition of a solvent derived proton/deuteron occurs on the si face at Calpha of the dienoyl-CoA. The addition of the pro-4S hydrogen from NADPH occurs on the si face at Cdelta of trans-2, cis-4-dienoyl-CoA and on the re face at Cdelta of trans-2, trans-4-dienoyl-CoA. The stereochemical course of reduction of InhA, an enoyl-thiolester reductase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, was also determined by use of ¿4-(2)HNADH in D(2)O. The reduction of trans-2-octenoyl-CoA catalyzed by InhA resulted in the syn addition of (2)H(2) across the double bond yielding (2R,3S)-¿2, 3-(2)H(2)ŏctanoyl-CoA. In the crystal structure of the InhA ternary complex, the residue donating the proton to Calpha could not be identified ¿Rozwarski, D. A., Vilcheze, C., Sugantino, M., Bittman, R., and Sacchettini, J. C. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 15582-15589. The current results place further restrictions on the source of the proton and suggest the reduction is stepwise.