ABSTRACT
Enzymes are capable of the most complex chemistry. The part they play in every biochemical process and hence in bioenergetics is of utmost importance. About 3000 enzymes, at least, are known and the International Union of Biochemistry puts forward the number of 25000 enzymes existing in nature. Each of them is capable of catalysing some specific chemical reaction. This chapter focuses on the exceptional catalytic power of the enzymes. The chemical mechanisms of enzymatic reactions are often complicated. In particular, enzymes may exhibit a vectorial action. The “desolvatation theory” is based on the hypothesis that the kinetics of enzymatic reactions looks, in a certain manner, like gas-phase reactions. When the substrate enters into the active site of the enzyme, it replaces all its water molecules initially solvating it. Finally, it is interesting to note that many enzymatic reactions may also be under the dependence of cooperative binding processes.
