Question

What are enzymes? Write in brief the mechanism of enzyme catalysis

Answer 1

Enzymes are catalysts that regulate the rate of the reaction without itself undergoing any chemical change; they possess active binding sites where the substrate binds resulting in the formation of products.

Complete step by step answer:
Life is possible because of the coordination of various chemical reactions in living organisms.
${\text{Eg:}}$ Food digestion and absorption of appropriate molecules and thus production of energy
This process includes a series of reactions which occur in the body in very mild conditions and the reactions are carried out with the help of catalysts called enzymes. The use of natural substances to catalyse the chemical reactions is called a biocatalyst. Enzymes are substances that are produced by living organisms in order to catalyse a biochemical reaction. Enzymes are very specific in nature for a particular reaction and almost all of them are globular proteins.
The requirement of enzymes for the progress of a reaction is in very small quantities. Enzymes are meant to reduce the magnitude of activation energy just as other chemical catalysts
Mechanism of enzyme catalysis
${\text{Step1}}$
Binding of enzyme $\left( {\text{E}} \right)$ to substrate $\left( {\text{S}} \right)$forming enzyme substrate complex $\left( {{\text{ES}}} \right)$
Enzyme will have an active binding site that binds to the substrate forming a complex
${\text{E + S}} \rightleftharpoons {\text{ES}}$
${\text{Step2}}$
There occurs a reaction between enzyme and substrate in the complex and the Enzyme substrate complex $\left( {{\text{ES}}} \right)$ is turned into Enzyme product complex $\left( {{\text{EP}}} \right)$
${\text{Step3}}$
The Enzyme product complex then dissociates forming products and enzymes are recovered without undergoing any chemical changes
${\text{EP}} \to {\text{E + P}}$

Additional information:
Enzymes are usually named after the compound or class of compounds depending on which they work
Eg: In hydrolysis of maltose into glucose the enzyme acted is maltase
${{\text{C}}_{{\text{12}}}}{{\text{H}}_{{\text{22}}}}{{\text{O}}_{{\text{11}}}}\xrightarrow{{{\text{Maltase}}}}{\text{2}}{{\text{C}}_{\text{6}}}{{\text{H}}_{{\text{12}}}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{6}}}$
In some cases enzymes are named after the reaction.
Eg: Enzymes catalysing the oxidation of one substrate and simultaneously reducing the other substrate are named as oxidoreductase enzymes, where at the end ${\text{ - ase}}$ is the name of an enzyme

Note: Enzymes find its applications in food, agriculture, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry to increase the rate of the reaction and obtain an accurate final product. They are also used in making tanning leather, cheese, baking bread etc.