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SUMMARY:Electric Fields And Catalysis Probed By The Vibrational Stark Effec
 t:  A Foundational Concept In Chemical Reactivity
LOCATION:Chemistry A101
TZID:America/Denver
DTSTART:20230914T160000
UID:2026-04-29-01-40-41@natsci.colostate.edu
DTSTAMP:20260429T014041
Description:Abstract:\n\nLocal internal electric fields in complex organize
 d systems like proteins can be measured using the vibrational Stark effect
  (VSE). These fields can be very large and can affect chemical reactivity.
   I will briefly explain the underlying physical concept and strategy we 
 have developed to apply the VSE to a wide range of systems.  This general
  concept of electrostatic catalysis and the methods we have developed have
  proven to be a general approach and has been applied to several enzymes t
 o measure the electrostatic contribution to catalysis.  The concept can b
 e extended generally to chemical reactivity\, an example being covalent dr
 ugs.\n\nRecent work addresses the question whether larger fields and corre
 spondingly larger rates can be created either by design or by evolution? U
 sing the hydride transfer enzyme liver alcohol dehydrogenase (LADH)\, we r
 ecently showed that mutations and metal replacements at the active site ca
 n produce both larger fields and faster rates\, extending and strengthenin
 g the concept of electrostatic catalysis. This suggests that an important 
 missing link in the quest for better catalyst design\, whether biological 
 or non-biological\, may be the electric field.  By using an aldehyde inhi
 bitor\, we can measure projections both on the carbonyl C=O bond and on th
 e C-H (with H replaced by D) at the same carbon. The results suggest that 
 the protein active site creates a unique pre-organized electrostatic envir
 onment. Implications of both observations for enzyme design will be discus
 sed.\n\n&nbsp\;\n\nAbout the Speaker:\n\nSteven Boxer is the Camille Dreyf
 us Professor and Chair in the Department of Chemistry at Stanford Universi
 ty.  His research interests are in biophysics: the interface of physical 
 chemistry\, biology\, and engineering.  Topics of current interest includ
 e: electrostatics and dynamics in proteins\, especially related to enzyme 
 catalysis\; excited state dynamics of green fluorescent protein\, especial
 ly split GFP\, with applications in biotechnology\; electron and energy tr
 ansfer mechanisms in photosynthesis\; and the fabrication of model membran
 es assemblies to simulate\, manipulate and image biological membranes.  H
 e is the recipient of several awards and is an elected Fellow of the Ameri
 can Academy of Arts and Sciences\, the Biophysical Society\, and the Natio
 nal Academy of Sciences. 4:00 pm
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