Enzymes

Catalysts are mostly proteins and they are:-

1. Efficient- work at body temperature in aqueous solution, near neutral pH. It can increase the rate of reaction by a factor of up to 1020.
2. Specific- each enzyme has a limited range of substrates, some can distinguish stereoisomers
3. Potent- each enzyme molecule can convert many substrate molecules into product per second

Enzymes speed up the rate at which a reaction reaches equilibrium 1) Bind and stabilize the transition state 2) Reduce activation energy by providing an alternative reaction pathway

Isoforms of enzymes - catalyze the same reaction but have different properties and structure