Cover Picture: How Is a Metabolic Intermediate Formed in the Mechanism-Based Inactivation of Cytochrome P450 by Using 1,1-Dimethylhydrazine: Hydrogen Abstraction or Nitrogen Oxidation? (Chem. Eur. J. 23/2013)

Abstract

Mechanism-based inactivation (MBI) of cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes in the human liver can impede the process of drug metabolism, that is, an essential step for administered drugs. As MBI involves bond-forming or bond-breaking chemical reactions, its understanding requires the use of quantum mechanical methods, and the knowledge thus obtained could usefully be exploited for the accurate prediction of P450 inhibitions. The mechanism of P450 MBI by a hydrazine compound is described in the Full Paper by H. Hirao and co-workers on page 7361 ff.