The electronic an
d steric constraints of the
dopamine
ddle">-monooxygenase (D
ddle">M; E.C.1.14.17.1)active site were stu
die
d using a series of chiral bisubstrateinhibitors. The (R) an
d (S) enantiomers of5-phenyl-2-thiooxazoli
done were apparent bisubstrate inhibitors forD
ddle">M with respect to tyramine an
ddioxygen, but with small enantiomeric selectivity. In contrast tothe substrate specificity of the enzyme,N-methylation of both inhibitors increase
d the potency without alteringthe enantiomeric selectivity. The(S) C-4-methyl substitution was more
detrimental towar
d the inhibitionpotency compare
d to (R) C-4-methyl substitution for both the (R) an
d (S) series, which was alsoopposite of the substrate specificity ofthe enzyme. The high inhibition potency an
d apparent bisubstratebehavior of 3-phenyl-1,5-bisthioglutarimi
de (
XVI), a probe
designe
d to mimic two
distinctbin
ding mo
des for the (R) an
d (S) inhibitors,suggeste
d that they may interact with the enzyme by two
different mo
desinvolving both coppers in theactive site. Direct support for the interaction of the thionegroup(s) of
XVI with the re
duce
d D
ddle">Mcopper(s)is provi
de
d by the UV-vis spectroscopic stu
dies. The complete
disappearance of the characteristic UVabsorption of
XVI at 336 nm in the presence ofstoichiometric amounts of re
duce
d D
ddle">M
demonstratethat it coul
d be an active site titrant for re
duce
d D
ddle">M. Theability of the enzyme to interact with theseinhibitors by more than one mo
de suggests that the D
ddle">M active sitepossesses high steric an
d electronictolerance.