Immunoresponse and Evolutionary Catalysis

The aim of theoretical catalysis is to predict catalytic reactivity for an arbitrary system and, hence, to direct the synthetic chemist to the exploration of new materials. A completely different approach, with important modeling consequences, would be possible if systems could be developed that not only self repair drrring the catalytic reaction, but also would change or adapt as a function of the product formed. The ideal catalyst would form itself from catalyst building components in a reaction mixture in response to desired products. To analyze the conditions for the chemodesign of such systems is one of the great challenges of modern catalysis. We refer further to this topic in Chapter 9. 

Natural systems that are able to adapt to a desired product are the antibodies in biochemical systems. Their modular composition makes combinations in many different configurations possible. For instance, the macromolecular biological immunoglobulin system contains a great variety of compounds that vary in shape and size that can be organized to recognize a reagent by combinatorial association. More than 10 different antibodies can be formed. 

Self Organization and Self Assembly of Catalytic Systems 353 

The structure of the antigen-antibody binding site shows a highly structure-dependent interaction that is dominated by hydrogen bonds and van der Waals and electrostatic 

These two approaches illustrate the impressive state of biomolecular catalysis, which 

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