Bioorganic Reaction Animations

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Historically the understanding of biological processes has progressed from observation of phenomena at the cellular level to structure determination of biopolymers (i.e. DNA/RNA, proteins and polysaccharides) to elucidation of specific interactions and reactions that govern life processes. As these processes are understood at the molecular and sub-molecular (i.e., functional group) levels, the dependence upon interactions of organic molecules and groups becomes evident. Consequently, information obtained through study of organic reactions and non-covalent interactions among small organic molecules has become directly applicable to the understanding of biological processes. To facilitate students' understanding of how chemical events dictate live processes, three-dimensional interactive animations of reaction pathways for multiple enzymatic processes are being developed based upon enzyme crystal structure and semi-empirical calculations. The software allows students to visualize the chemical events that play a role in these enzyme systems. The goal of this Proof-of-Concept project is to correlate the chemical events in biological processes with those learned in organic chemistry courses.