Phosphoryl Transfer Enzymes and Hypervalent Phosphorus Chemistry: A Keynote Lecture of the 7th International Conference on Heteroatom Chemistry

The coordination tendencies of phosphorus to form a hexacoordinated state from a pentacoordinated state which might assist in describing mechanistic action of phosphoryl transfer enzymes are delineated. The factors discussed include substrate and transition or intermediate state anionicity; hydrogen bonding; packing effects, i.e., van der Waals forces; the ease of formation of hexacoordinate phosphorus from lower coordinate states; and the pseudorotation problem common to nonrigid pentacoordinate phosphorus. In view of the work reported in this account and recent work on enzyme promiscuity and moonlighting activities, it is suggested that donor action should play a role in determining active-site interactions in phosphoryl transfer enzyme mechanisms.