The kinetics of the reaction of nitrophenyl phosphates with alkaline phosphatase from Escherichia coli.

1. The steady-state rate of hydrolysis of 2,4-dinitrophenyl phosphate catalysed by Escherichia coli phosphatase is identical with that of 4-nitrophenyl phosphate over the pH range 5.5-8.5. 2. The increase in the rate of the enzyme-catalysed decomposition of nitrophenyl phosphates in the presence of tris at pH8.1 and 5.9 is consistent with the hypothesis that tris increases the rate of decomposition of a phosphoryl-enzyme intermediate. At pH8.1 the rate of decomposition of the phosphoryl-enzyme is approximately twice as fast as the rate of its formation, whereas at pH5.9 the rate of formation of the phosphoryl-enzyme is considerably faster than its decomposition. 3. Pre-steady-state measurements of the initial transient of the liberation of 2,4-dinitrophenol during the reaction of the enzyme with 2,4-dinitrophenyl phosphate confirmed the above pH-dependence of the ratio of the rates of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of the enzyme. At optimum pH (above pH8), when the phosphorylation of the enzyme by the substrate is rate-determining, this step must be controlled by a rearrangement of the enzyme or enzyme-substrate complex.