Quantum mechanical effects in enzyme-catalysed hydrogen transfer reactions.

Hydrogen tunneling at room temperature has recently been demonstrated in the reactions catalysed by yeast alcohol dehydrogenase and bovine serum amine oxidase. These results suggest that quantum mechanical effects may be a fundamental and pervasive feature of enzyme-catalysed hydrogen transfer reactions. Our ability to detect such behavior introduces a new probe for the investigation of reaction barrier shape and protein dynamics in enzyme catalysis.