(N/A) Enzymes are globular proteins that act as biocatalysts in living systems. Life is possible due to various chemical reactions in living organisms,such as the digestion of food,absorption of molecules,and energy production. These processes involve sequences of reactions occurring under mild conditions with the help of enzymes.
Enzymes are highly specific for a reaction and a substrate. They are generally named after the compound or class of compounds upon which they work. For example,the enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of maltose into glucose is named maltase:
$C_{12}H_{22}O_{11} \xrightarrow{\text{Maltase}} 2C_6H_{12}O_6$
Sometimes,enzymes are named after the reaction they catalyse. For example,enzymes that catalyse the oxidation of one substrate with the simultaneous reduction of another are called oxidoreductases. The name of an enzyme typically ends in $-ase$.
Mechanism: Enzymes are required in small quantities. Similar to chemical catalysts,enzymes reduce the magnitude of activation energy. For example,the activation energy for the acid hydrolysis of sucrose is $6.22 \ kJ \ mol^{-1}$,whereas it is only $2.15 \ kJ \ mol^{-1}$ when catalysed by the enzyme sucrase.