Zinc is known as natures Lewis acid catalyst because it cata

Zinc is known as nature\'s Lewis acid catalyst because it catalyzes numerous biochemical reactions. However, there is a major practical disadvantage when working with Zn^2+ ion containing metallo-proteins. Provide an explanation for this disadvantage of Zn^2+ ion containing metallo-cofactors.

Solution

Spectroscopic studies does not provide discrete information for zinc-containing proteins as zinc is colourless and diamagnetic. therefore EPR cannot be used. though NMR studies can be used the isotype has only small magnetic moment and therefore cannot detect low concentrations. X-ray crystallography requires large amount of sample and needs the protein to form crystal. it cannot identify the amino acid residues bound to the zinc metal.

Therefore, studies are performed by substituting zinc with other metals which may lead to diminishing of partial or complete activity of the proteins. other high end techniques such as mass spectroetry can be used for intensive studies.