ABSTRACT

I. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 931

II. sMMO Components ......................................................................................................... 932

III. sMMO Catalytic Cycle .................................................................................................... 933

IV. Kinetic Solvent Isotope Effect used to Probe Proton Donors......................................... 936

V. The Mechanism of Q Reaction with Substrates.............................................................. 938

VI. Arrhenius Plots for the Reactions of Reaction Cycle Intermediates .............................. 942

VII. The Effects of MMOB..................................................................................................... 943

VIII. A Test of the Molecular-Sieve Model using KIE Studies .............................................. 945

IX. A Tunneling Reaction ...................................................................................................... 946

X. New Insight into the Mechanism of C-H Bond Cleavage............................................. 947

Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ 949

References..................................................................................................................................... 949

Methanotrophic bacteria exist by using methane as a sole source of carbon and energy.