Publications [#232653] of Michael C. Fitzgerald

Journal Articles

1. Fitzgerald, MC; Kent, SBH; Chernushevich, I; Standing, KG; Whitman, CP, Total Chemical Synthesis and Catalytic Properties of the Enzyme Enantiomers L- and D-4-Oxalocrotonate Tautomerase, Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 117 no. 45 (January, 1995), pp. 11075-11080, American Chemical Society (ACS), ISSN 0002-7863 [doi]
   (last updated on 2026/01/15)

   Abstract:
   Both the native L-form and the mirror image D-form of the enzyme 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase (40T) were prepared by total chemical synthesis. Our results indicate that both enzymes were efficient catalysts and demonstrate, as expected, that the achiral substrate 2-hydroxymuconate (2) was processed with equal efficiency by either the D- or the L-enzyme. The stereochemical course of the D-4OT-catalyzed reaction in ²H2O was also characterized; and it was found that D-4OT ketonized 2-hydroxymuconate (2) to (5R)-2-oxo-3(E)-[5-²H]hexenedioate (3). This finding is consistent with the stereochemical course previously established for the L-4OT-catalyzed reaction and confirms the expectation that the mirror image enzyme molecules D- and L-4OT operate on opposite faces of the dienol intermediate. Furthermore, we have used electrospray ionization time-of-flight (ESI-TOF) mass spectrometry to establish the multimeric state of our synthetic enzymes. Our ESI-TOF results under nondenaturing solution conditions show that each enantiomer formed a noncovalent, homohexameric complex consistent with the previously reported crystallographic analysis of recombinant L-4OT. © 1995, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.