Molecular Biochemistry

The elucidation of the detailed chemical mechanisms involved in biological, and particularly in enzymatic, processes has received considerable attention in recent years. Increasingly, the theories and methods of physical organic chemistry are being applied to this problem. Kosower has attempted to review the advances made in this field, as well as to suggest areas of biochemistry which should provide fruitful material for future investigations. The first section of the book, "Biochemical Patterns," surveys a number of metabolic transformations, with considerable emphasis on a classification of the types of chemical changes involved in the over-all reaction sequences. Included are the glycolytic pathway, the tricarboxylic acid and urea cycles, as well as several other major metabolic pathways. The second section, "Chemical Patterns," considers in detail the various classes of organic reaction mechanisms and their involvement in particular enzymatic sequences. Subjects discussed are: carboxylation, decarboxylation, enolization and aldol condensation, nucleophilic displacements, hydration and dehydration, imines, hydrolysis of esters and amides, oxidationreduction (including oneand two-electron transfer, pyridine nucleotides and flavins), and phosphate compounds. Relevant enzymatic reactions are considered within each group. Of particular interest is the thorough review and discussion of the chemistry of biologically important phosphate esters (with respect to reaction mechanism), a subject generally inadequately covered in reviews or texts. This book will replace neither standard texts in biochemistry nor their counterparts in physical organic chemistry. A reasonably extensive prior knowledge both of biochemistry and of organic reaction mechanism is a requirement for thorough understanding of the relationships discussed here. It may be mentioned, in addition, that many of the mechanisms proposed are purely speculative ones. Within these limitations, this work should prove of interest to advanced graduate students as well as to research workers, particularly those on the ill-defined borders of biochemistry and chemistry. GASTON L. SCHMIR