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Abstract
In the course of investigations into the applicability of xylose isomerase as a reagent for carbohydrate synthesis, some questions raised in context with structural requirements for productive substrates as well as mechanistic considerations have been addressed. Amongst the interesting findings obtained so far is the observation that the enzyme requires two vicinal hydroxyl groups, either at positions C-3 and C-4 or at C-4 and C-5, for productive binding/catalysis. Furthermore, two apparently different reaction pathways occur in parallel when certain aldopentoses as well as selected aldohexoses are offered as substrates, this explaining the recently observed formation of epimeric aldoses together with the expected ketoses observed upon extended reaction times.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Studies were kindly supported by the Austrian Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF), Project P-13593 CHE. Novo Nordisk is thanked for gifts of immobilised D-xylose (D-glucose) isomerase from Streptomyces murinus (Sweetzyme T).