The Mechanism of the Enzymatic Oxidation of Aldehydes
Irwin Fridovich 1
From the
1 From the Department of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27706
By exploiting the relatively slow hydration of acetaldehyde in neutral solutions of low ionic strength and the general acid-base catalysis of this hydration reaction, it is shown that the hydration of acetaldehyde does not precede its oxidation by xanthine oxidase. It follows that the aldehyde, per se, rather than its hydrate is the true substrate.
Submitted on February 28, 1966