Kinetic studies on enzymatic acetylation of chloramphenicol in Streptococcus faecalis

The kinetics of chloramphenicol (CP) acetylation by CP acetyltransferase from Streptococcus faecalis was studied. CP was shown to be acetylated enzymatically to its 3-O-acetyl derivative (3-AcCP) in the presence of acetyl coenzyme A, after which 3-AcCP was converted nonenzymatically to its 1-O-acetyl isomer, 1-O-acetyl CP (1-AcCP). At equilibrium, the 1-AcCP and 3-AcCP were present in a 1:4 ratio. Subsequently the diacetylated product, 1,3-O-O-diacetyl CP [1,3-(Ac)2CP], was enzymatically produced from 1-AcCP by the same enzyme. Theoretical calculation of rate constants (k1, k2, k3) for each successive reaction is as follows: (Formula: see text). This calculation gave k1 = 0.4 min-1, k2 = 0.002 min-1, and k3 = 0.016 min-1. Experimental results agreed closely with these calculated values.