ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the status of knowledge of the reactions of the enzyme-substrate complexes which lead to the release of products in arylsulfatase catalysis. Alkylsulfatases catalyse the hydrolysis of alkyl sulfate esters with the liberation of inorganic sulfate and the parent aliphatic alcohol. In general, three distinguishable types of alkyl sulfate ester are possible depending on whether the sulfate group is attached to a primary, secondary, or tertiary carbon atom. Model compounds comprising aryl sulfates with long alkyl or acyl substituents are currently being synthesized and it is predicted that they will resemble the cerebroside sulfates in their properties including the inability to induce enzyme inactivation. It is also clearly important to relate the outcome of these experiments with the position of bond cleavage for cerebroside sulfates, the related monosaccharide sulfates, and also of arylsulfates with hydrophobic substituents. Arylsulfatase C, another mammalian enzyme, is found in the microsomal fractions of liver and placenta.
