Polypeptides are polymers of amino acids. Suppose that a long polypeptide chain can undergo a transition from a helical conformation to a random coil. Consider a mechanism for a helix–coil transition that begins in the middle of the chain:hhhh…⇌ hchh… hchh… ⇌ cccc… in which h and c label, respectively, an amino acid in a helical or coil part of the chain. The first conversion from h to c, also called a nucleation step, is relatively slow, so neither step may be rate determining. (a) Set up the rate equations for this mechanism. (b) Apply the steady-state approximation and show that, under these circumstances, the mechanism is equivalent to hhhh… ⇌ cccc….

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Author:Steven S. Zumdahl, Susan A. Zumdahl, Donald J. DeCoste
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Chapter1: Chemical Foundations
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Polypeptides are polymers of amino acids. Suppose that a long polypeptide chain can undergo a transition from a helical conformation to a random coil. Consider a mechanism for a helix–coil transition that begins in the middle of the chain:
hhhh…⇌ hchh… hchh… ⇌ cccc… in which h and c label, respectively, an amino acid in a helical or coil part of the chain. The first conversion from h to c, also called a nucleation step, is relatively slow, so neither step may be rate determining. (a) Set up the rate equations for this mechanism. (b) Apply the steady-state approximation and show that, under these circumstances, the mechanism is equivalent to hhhh… ⇌ cccc….

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