Treatment of rat liver EF‐2 with N‐ethylmaleimide (MalNEt) did not affect the direct interactions of the factor with guanine nulceotides or with ribosomes, but inhibited the binding of guanosine 5′‐(β,γ‐methylene)triphosphate (GuoPP(CH2)P) to the EF‐2‐ribosome complex. The amino group reactive reagent 2,4,6‐trinitrobenzenesulfonate (TNBS), however, inhibited specifically the direct interactions of EF‐2 with guanine nucleotides, but not the binding of GuoPP(CH2)P to the EF‐2‐ribosome complex. The different sensitivities of EF‐2 to MalNEt and to TNBS suggested that the binding sites involved in the binary vs. ternary complex might correspond to different conformational states or might even be distinct physical entities.