What are tautomers in biology?
An alternative arrangement of the chemical bonds of a molecule that requires movement of only electrons and protons, e.g. the enol form of a carbonyl.
What are tautomers in organic chemistry?
Tautomer: Any molecule in a set of constitutional isomers that are conceptually related by the shift of a hydrogen atom and one or more pi bonds.
What is Tautomerization in genetics?
(a) Tautomerism: Tautomers are the alternate forms of bases and are produced by rearrangements of electrons and protons in the molecules (Fig. 6.46). Tautomerism is caused by certain chemical mutagens. In the next replication purines pair with pyrimidines and the base pair is altered at a particular locus.
How are tautomers formed biology?
Tautomers are structural isomers that interconvert rapidly (1), so they will all exist in a solution of the compound at equilibrium at ambient temperature. In most cases, tautomers are generated by the structural and electronic rearrangements induced by moving a single proton (3). …
How do tautomers form?
Lowdin proposed that the rare tautomeric forms can be produced through the proton transfer within the hydrogen bonds connecting a base pair and it may lead to spontaneous mutation. Among pyrimidine bases, cytosine has been found to show significant tautomeric activities.
What do you mean by tautomers?
Tautomers are isomers of a compound which differ only in the position of the protons and electrons. A reaction which involves simple proton transfer in an intramolecular fashion is called a tautomerism. Keto-enol tautomerism is a very common process, and is acid or base catalysed.
How are tautomers formed?
Ring–chain tautomers occur when the movement of the proton is accompanied by a change from an open structure to a ring, such as the open chain and cyclic hemiacetal (typically pyranose or furanose forms) of many sugars.
Do tautomers exist in equilibrium?
2.3. Tautomers exist in equilibrium in the liquid state or in solution, but not in the solid state, and the position of equilibrium for tautomerism is dependent on molecular structure.
How are tautomers formed in DNA?
Tautomerism in DNA bases is interesting due to its possible involvement in point mutations. Lowdin proposed that the rare tautomeric forms can be produced through the proton transfer within the hydrogen bonds connecting a base pair and it may lead to spontaneous mutation.
Are tautomers functional isomers?
Tautomerism. Tautomerism is a special kind of functional isomerism. In this case two isomers are in a stable dynamic equilibrium; that is, they can alter their structure depending on the needs. The two forms in tautomeric equilibrium are called tautomers of each other.
Why do tautomers form?
Nucleic acid bases can exist in multiple tautomeric forms due to the presence of solvent-exchangeable protons. Tautomers are structural isomers that differ from one another based on the position of proton(s) and double bonds (Antonov 2014).