Aminoacyl transer: Chemical conversion of an aminoacyl adenylate to an imidazolide

Abstract N-Acetylglycyl adenylate anhydride has been shown to be readily converted in high yield to N-acetylglycyl imidazolide in the presence of excess imidazole at pH 7. The aminoacyl group can then be transferred from the imidazolide to become esters of mono- or polynucleotides. These observations suggest that histidine may be in the active site of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, catalyzing the transfer of aminoacyl groups from the adenylate to tRNA.