Reactions of organozinc coordination compounds

The reaction of carbon dioxide with diethylzinc has been found to be specifically accelerated by N-methylimidazole. In view of the analogy between this reaction and the carbon dioxide/water reaction catalyzed by carbonic anhydrase, a zinc enzyme, it is suggested that coordination of the imidazole group(s) of histidine to the zinc atom in this enzyme makes an important contribution to the high catalytic activity of the enzyme.