Kinetic study on the suicide inactivation of tyrosinase induced by catechol.

Tyrosinase has a suicide inactivation reaction when it acts on omicron-diphenols. In the present paper, this reaction has been studied using a transient phase approach. Explicit equations of product vs. time have been developed for the multisubstrate mechanism of tyrosinase, and the kinetic parameters which characterize the enzyme acting on the suicide substrate catechol have been determined. The effect of pH has also been considered.