Alternatively, the enolate carbon, which bears a degree of negative charge, could act as a base, which is simply the reverse of the initial deprotonation step that formed the enolate in the first plac...Alternatively, the enolate carbon, which bears a degree of negative charge, could act as a base, which is simply the reverse of the initial deprotonation step that formed the enolate in the first place. The enzyme-catalyzed reaction, not surprisingly, is completely stereospecific: the DHAP substrate is positioned in the active site so as to attack the re (front)face of the GAP carbonyl group, leading to the R configuration at the new stereocenter.
