Mandelate racemase from Pseudomonas putida. Absence of detectable intermolecular proton transfer accompanying...

An equimolar mixture of DL-[alpha-2H]- and DL-[alpha-13C]mandelate, when incubated with mandelate racemase (EC 5.1.2.2), shows conversion of singly labeled mandelate to unlabeled mandelate, due to solvent exchange of the alpha proton, while the level of doubly labeled mandelate remains at a constant low level. Similarly, an equimolar mixture of unlabeled and DL-[alpha-2H,alpha-13C]mandelate, when incubated with the enzyme, shows conversion of doubly labeled mandelate to singly labeled mandelate, due to solvent exchange, while the level of unlabeled mandelate remains constant at 50%. Incubation of an equimolar mixture of DL-[alpha-3H]mandelate and DL-rho-chloromandelate. These results indicate that mandelate racemase does not catalyze an intermolecular proton transfer to achieve racemization. These data are necessary, but not sufficient, results to indicate that mandelate racemase operates via a one-acceptor mechanism, in which the proton abstracted from one stereochemical face of a substrate molecule is returned to the opposite face of the same carbon of the substrate molecule.