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Updated: Jul 31, 2026

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
N-Acetyl-D- and L-esters of 5'-AMP hydrolyze at different rates
N S Wickramasinghe1, J C Lacey
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA.
Abstract:
Studies of the properties of aminoacyl derivatives of 5'-AMP are aimed at understanding the origin of the process of protein synthesis. Aminoacyl (2',3') esters of 5'-AMP can serve as models of the 3'-terminus of aminoacyl tRNA. We report here on the relative rates of hydrolysis of Ac-D- and L-Phe AMP esters as a function of pH. At all pHs above 3, the rate constant of hydrolysis of the Ac-L-Phe ester is 1.7 to 2.1 times that of Ac-D-Phe ester. The D-isomer seems partially protected from hydrolysis by a stronger association with the adenine ring of the 5'-AMP.
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