Hydride transfer methanol dehydrogenase

Evidence for a hydride transfer mechanism (Scheme 29) for the PQQ-dependent enzyme methanol dehydrogenase (MDH) was obtained by a theoretical analysis combined with an improved refinement of a 1.9 A resolution crystal structure of MDH from Methylophilus methylotrophus in the presence of CH3OH <2001PNA432>. The alternative mechanism proceeding via a hemiketal intermediate was discounted when the observed tetrahedral configuration of the C-5 atom of PQQ in that crystal structure was shown to be the C-5-reduced form of the cofactor 198, a precursor to the more common reduced form of PQQ 199. 

Figure 2. (a) Addition-Elimination (A-E) and (b) Hydride-Transfer (H-T) methanol electro-oxidation mechanisms by Methanol Dehydrogenase Enzyme proposed in the literature. 

The mechanism of liver alcohol dehydrogenase (LADH) has been extensively studied. For a recent overview the reader is referred to Ref [93]. Reaction field effects on the transition structure of model hydride transfer systems have been calculated at ab initio 4-3IG basis set level [93, 94]. The active site of enzymes are usually assumed to be designed to receive molecules in the transition state for the reaction they catalyze. This special sort of surrounding medium effects has been computationally documented recently [95]. From the reaction geodesic passing through the transition state for hybride transfer in the pyridium cation/methanolate model system, only the TS-structure could be fitted into the LADH active site. The normal mode analysis carried out on the TS showed an excellent agreement with isotopic substitution experiments [95]. Reaction field calculations on this model systems have also been performed. For an overview of biomolecular interactions the reader is referred to Ref [96]. 

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