SHORT STRONG HYDROGEN-BONDS - CAN THEY EXPLAIN ENZYMATIC CATALYSIS

It has been proposed that some remarkable enzymic catalytic effects ca n be explained by the existence of unusually strong hydrogen bonds wit hin the enzyme's active site. Although such hydrogen bonds may be shor t, and may have unusual properties, there is no evidence that unusuall y strong hydrogen bonds exist in solution or in enzyme active sites. T hus there is no basis for invoking strong hydrogen bonds to explain en zymic rate enhancements.