Racemases

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An enzyme that catalyzes the interconversion of enantiomers in racemic mixtures of compounds
2. A type of enzyme that facilitates the transformation of one stereoisomer into another, typically in chiral substances
3. A biochemical catalyst that promotes the conversion of one form of a stereoisomer to its mirror image in racemic substances

Etymology: "Racemases" is the plural of "racemase," a term built from two parts that have little to do with each other in meaning. The first part, "raceme," comes from Latin "racemus," meaning a cluster of grapes or a bunch of berries, and it names a botanical arrangement in which flowers sit along a single stem. The second part, "-ase," is the chemist's suffix used to name enzymes, so that a protein catalyst is identified by the substance it acts on. The connection between a flower cluster and a biochemical catalyst is therefore purely a matter of word-building: the enzyme takes its name from the suffix, while "raceme" is simply the base being attached to it. The plural "racemases" follows the regular English pattern of adding "-s" to a noun ending in "e" sound, referring to more than one such enzyme.

Synonyms: isomerases, enzymes, catalysts