Of esters, rates

Hydrolysis of esters and amides by enzymes that form acyl enzyme intermediates is similar in mechanism but different in rate-limiting steps. Whereas formation of the acyl enzyme intermediate is a rate-limiting step for amide hydrolysis, it is the deacylation step that determines the rate of ester hydrolysis. This difference allows elimination of the undesirable amidase activity that is responsible for secondary hydrolysis without affecting the rate of synthesis. Addition of an appropriate cosolvent such as acetonitrile, DMF, or dioxane can selectively eliminate undesirable amidase activity (128). 

The cyclic phosphonate ester analog of the cyclic transition state. Antibodies raised against this phosphonate ester act as enzymes they are catalysts that markedly accelerate the rate of ester hydrolysis. 

In accordance with this scheme, the rate of ester oxidation was found to obey the equation ... 

Mineral surfaces may accelerate the rate of ester hydrolysis (Stone, 1989 Hoffmann, 1990 Torrents and Stone, 1991). One plausible scheme for this heterogeneous catalysis assumes a nucleophilic addition of the ester to the surface functional group, e.g., in case of a carboxylic acid ester... 

Quantitative measurements of simple and enzyme-catalyzed reaction rates were under way by the 1850s. In that year Wilhelmy derived first order equations for acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of sucrose which he could follow by the inversion of rotation of plane polarized light. Berthellot (1862) derived second-order equations for the rates of ester formation and, shortly after, Harcourt observed that rates of reaction doubled for each 10 °C rise in temperature. Guldberg and Waage (1864-67) demonstrated that the equilibrium of the reaction was affected by the concentration ) of the reacting substance(s). By 1877 Arrhenius had derived the definition of the equilbrium constant for a reaction from the rate constants of the forward and backward reactions. Ostwald in 1884 showed that sucrose and ester hydrolyses were affected by H+ concentration (pH). 

Serine peptidases can hydrolyze both esters and amides, but there are marked differences in the kinetics of hydrolysis of the two types of substrates as monitored in vitro. Thus, the hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl acetate by a-chy-motrypsin occurs in two distinct phases [7] [22-24]. When large amounts of enzyme are used, there is an initial rapid burst in the production of 4-nitro-phenol, followed by its formation at a much slower steady-state rate (Fig. 3.7). It was shown that the initial burst of 4-nitrophenol corresponds to the formation of the acyl-enzyme complex (acylation step). The slower steady-state production of 4-nitrophenol corresponds to the hydrolysis of the acetyl-enzyme complex, regenerating the free enzyme. This second step, called deacylation, is much slower than the first, so that it determines the overall rate of ester hydrolysis. The rate of the deacylation step in ester hydrolysis is pH-dependent and can be slowed to such an extent that, at low pH, the acyl-enzyme complex can be isolated. 

The mechanism and thermodynamics of transesterification of acetate-ester enolates in the gas phase have been investigated. The catalytic effect of alkali-metal t-butoxide clusters on the rate of ester interchange for several pairs of esters has been determined in non-polar and weakly polar solvents. Reactivities increase in the order (Li+ < Na+ < K+ < Rb+ < Cs+) with the fastest rates reaching lO catalytic... 

Rate of ester hydrolysis depends on both concentrations of ester bonds in the resin and solution at constant temperature, then... 

Several earlier studies [3-6,8] clearly showed that enhanced metal ion effects on rates of ester cleavage are obtained in model substrates in which a covalently linked polyether chain holds the metal ion in close proximity to the ester function undergoing nucleophilic attack. 

As indicated in Fig. 13.10, the slowest, and therefore rate-determining, reaction step is then the nucleophilic attack of a water molecule at the carbonyl carbon of the protonated species. This carbonyl is much more susceptible to nucleophilic attack than in the neutral ester. Since the dissociation of the (protonated) leaving group (HO-R2) is fast (forward portion of reaction 4 in Fig. 13.10), the rate of ester disappearance through acid-catalyzed hydrolysis is given by ... 

This would have both a solvent effect and a mass law effect on the rate of ester formation. The error is systematic, since it is most serious for the slower ester formation reactions, and consequently the p value calculated by Jaffe144 from the data of Hartman and Borders142 is not accurate. Later workers allowed for this side-reaction 46 or used aromatic sulphonic acids rather than HC1 as the catalyst145147. However, whatever the exact p values, it is quite clear that the polar effects of substituents on acid-catalyzed ester hydrolysis and formation are small. 

Figure 8.11 (a) Hydrolysis rates of esters of Types I through IV as a function of percent H2S04. (b) Graphs of Equation 8.59 for esters of Types I through IV. 

The hydrolysis reactions of A -phospho amino acids seen as models for protein dephosphorylation have been studied in Tris-HCl buffer (pH7.5)-DMSO. The reactions were first order and the rates were very much faster than those of simple phosphoamidates. A pentacoordinated phosphorus intermediate is proposed on the reaction pathway.265 The rates of ester exchange reactions of alcohols (nucleoside models) with the oxyphosphorane (299) have been studied and the rates of exchange are much faster for diols than for mono-alcohols.266... 

Due to side reactions, in most of the experiments a higher octanol conversion than acid conversion is found. To investigate this phenomenon, an instantaneous selectivity is defined as the ratio of the rate of ester formation over the rate of 1-octanol-disappearance in one pass through the column ... 

Log k and p. Ta are related to free energies of activation and ionization, respectively, and hence a linear free energy relationship exists between the rates of ester hydrolysis and acid strengths. 

It has already been reported that antibodies prepared against the transition state of a reaction show considerable catalytic activity [113]. For example, antibodies prepared against a phosphonic ester (as a transition state analogue for alkaline ester hydrolysis) enhanced the rate of ester hydrolysis by 10 -10" fold. Recently, similar systems based on imprinted polymers which display high catalytic activity have been successfully prepared. Initial attempts were performed by several groups [114-117] with imprinted polymers based on non-stoichiometric, non-covalent interactions, which, however, gave results far below those obtained with antibodies. Rate enhancements up to 6.7-fold were reached in one case. 

The Taft steric constant Es was proposed as a measure of steric effects that a substituent X exerts on the acid-catalyzed hydrolytic rate of esters of substituted acetic acids XCH2COOR [Taft, 1952], The basic assumption is that the effect of X on acid hydrolysis is purely steric, as the reaction constant q for acid hydrolysis of substituted esters is close to zero. 

MeS02NH2 should be added if the alkene is nonterminal as this increases the rate of ester hydrolysis. 

Norin, M., Bontelje, J., Hofinberg, E., and Hnlt, K., Lipase immobilized by adsorption. Effect of snpport hydrophobicity on the reaction rate of ester synthesis in cyclohexane, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 28, 527-530, 1988. 

---