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Published on: August 1, 2018
Enol-to-keto tautomerism of peptide groups
Katsumasa Kamiya1, Mauro Boero, Kenji Shiraishi
1Institute of Physics and Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8571, Japan. kkamiya@comas.frsc.tsukuba.ac.jp
Abstract:
Density functional based simulations, performed on polyglycine containing an enol peptide group [-C(OH)N-] which is a structural isomer of a keto form [-CONH-], show that in the enol-to-keto tautomeric reaction, the enol peptide group is less stable than the keto form, and that the enol-to-keto tautomerism is characterized by a cis/trans isomerization of the C-N peptide bond. The rate-limiting step in the cis/trans isomerization is a hydrogen migration from O to N atoms in the peptide group with a transition state consisting of a four-membered ring in the cis configuration. An analysis of the cis/trans isomerization pathway shows that the mechanisms for the cis/trans isomerization are essentially different between the enol and keto forms.
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