Book excerpt: The Organic Chemistry of Enzyme-Catalyzed Reactions is not a book on enzymes, but rather a book on the general mechanisms involved in chemical reactions involving enzymes. An enzyme is a protein molecule in a plant or animal that causes specific reactions without itself being permanently altered or destroyed. This is a revised edition of a very successful book, which appeals to both academic and industrial markets. - Illustrates the organic mechanism associated with each enzyme-catalyzed reaction - Makes the connection between organic reaction mechanisms and enzyme mechanisms - Compiles the latest information about molecular mechanisms of enzyme reactions - Accompanied by clearly drawn structures, schemes, and figures - Includes an extensive bibliography on enzyme mechanisms covering the last 30 years - Explains how enzymes can accelerate the rates of chemical reactions with high specificity - Provides approaches to the design of inhibitors of enzyme-catalyzed reactions - Categorizes the cofactors that are appropriate for catalyzing different classes of reactions - Shows how chemical enzyme models are used for mechanistic studies - Describes catalytic antibody design and mechanism - Includes problem sets and solutions for each chapter - Written in an informal and didactic style