The selenium-containing ester p-nitrophenyl (phenylselenyl)acetate, C6H5SeCH2C(O)-OC6H4-p-(NO2), has been synthesized, characterized as a substrate for alpha-chymotrypsin (k2/KM = 15.2 X 10(3) M-1 s-1, KMapp = 5.16 X 10(-6) M, pH 7.77, 33% CH3CN, 25 degrees C), and shown to be an active-site titrant for the enzyme. A synthesis of the selenium-77 enriched p-nitrophenyl (phenylselenyl)acetate in 53% yield from 94.4% elemental selenium-77, followed by its reaction with alpha-chymotrypsin (pH 5.0, 0-3 degrees C), permitted the observation of the (phenylselenyl)acetyl-alpha-chymotrypsin reaction intermediate by selenium-77 NMR spectroscopy. This acyl-enzyme species had a chemical shift of 275.1 ppm relative to dimethyl selenide. Accompanying this resonance was a lower intensity, pH-dependent resonance that is assigned to (phenylselenyl)acetate on the basis of a pH titration of the model compound. Deacylation in the presence of hydrazine sulfate produced a resonance at 332.3 ppm in addition to the 302.2 ppm resonance of (phenylselenyl)acetate at pH 7.85. Denaturation of the acyl-enzyme resulted in a shift of the 275.1 ppm resonance to 334.6 ppm at pH 4.90, in good agreement with the selenium-77 chemical shift of the model compound, methyl (phenylselenyl)acetate, in CDCl3 (333.3 ppm). The large shielding observed for the native acyl-enzyme in comparison to the denatured species can be attributed to a resonance-perturbed ester linkage and/or steric compression at a nonbonding orbital of the selenium nucleus.