Multiple Choice
Which of the following statements best explains why chirality is important in the biological activity of molecules?
5. Chirality
Chirality
Struggling with Organic Chemistry?
Join thousands of students who trust us to help them ace their exams!Watch the first videoMultiple Choice
Why do enzymes generally only bind to one type of substrate in terms of chirality?
A
Enzymes can change their chirality to match the substrate.
B
Enzymes bind to substrates based on size, not chirality.
C
Enzymes are chiral and can only interact with substrates of a specific chirality.
D
Enzymes are achiral and can bind to any substrate regardless of chirality.
Verified step by step guidance1
Understand that enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up chemical reactions in living organisms. They are typically proteins with complex three-dimensional structures.
Recognize that chirality is a property of a molecule that makes it non-superimposable on its mirror image, much like left and right hands. This is important in organic chemistry because many biological molecules are chiral.
Enzymes themselves are chiral because they are made up of amino acids, which are chiral molecules. This chirality is crucial for the enzyme's function and specificity.
The active site of an enzyme, where the substrate binds, is also chiral. This means that the enzyme can distinguish between different enantiomers (chiral molecules that are mirror images of each other) of a substrate.
Due to the chiral nature of the active site, enzymes will typically only bind to one enantiomer of a substrate. This specificity is why enzymes generally only bind to one type of substrate in terms of chirality.
Related Videos
Related Practice
