The mechanism of enzymatic oxidation has been studied by isotopic labeling with the aid of...

The mechanism of enzymatic oxidation has been studied by isotopic labeling with the aid of deuterated derivatives of ethanol. Specify the number of deuterium atoms that you would expect to find attached to the dihydropyridine ring of NADH following enzymatic oxidation of each of the alcohols given:

(a) CD3CH2OH

(b) CH3CD2OH

(c) CH3CH2OD

Sample Solution According to the proposed mechanism for biological oxidation of ethanol, the hydrogen that is transferred to the coenzyme comes from C-1 of ethanol. Therefore, the dihydropyridine ring will bear no deuterium atoms when CD3CH2OH is oxidized, because all the deuterium atoms of the alcohol are attached to C-2.