Metal binding entatic state

Enzymes are Nature s catalysts, facilitating all of the chemical reactions of metabolism. They bind a specific substrate in an entatic state moving it along the reaction coordinate towards the reaction transition state thus lowering the reaction activation energy. Enzymes are generally made of proteins and contain an active site, often based around a metal ion. 

The binding of cyclic thioethers to metal centers has also led to the isolation of complexes in which the coordinative properties of the ligand do not lit the stereochemical preferences of the metal ion(s) (188), Thus, a series of macrocyclic thioether complexes incorporating unusual stereochemistries and/or oxidation states has been generated (188). This is linked to the biological activity of the blue copper proteins and model systems in which the coordination geometry about Cu(II) is strained [in an entatic state (.212,221)] such that the Cu(II)/(I) couple occurs at a particularly positive potential that is, the Cud) state is stabilized. The ability of cyclic thioethers to modify their coordination properties is inherent in this approach (76,108,111). 

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