2. The most striking characteristics of enzymes are their immense catalytic power and high specificity. 2.1 Enzymes accelerate reactions s by factors of at least a million 2.1.1 Most reactions in biological systems do not occur at perceptible rates in the absence of enzymes. 2.1.2 The rate enhancements (rate with enzyme catalysis divided by rate without enzyme catalysis) brought about by enzymes are often in the range of 107to1014) 2.1.3 For carbonic anhydrase, an enzyme +H*), the rate enhancement is(h,o+co,->Hco3 catalyzing the hydration of co is 10(each enzyme molecule can hydrate 105 molecules of co2 per second2. The most striking characteristics of enzymes are their immense catalytic power and high specificity. 2.1 Enzymes accelerate reactions by factors of at least a million. 2.1.1 Most reactions in biological systems do not occur at perceptible rates in the absence of enzymes. 2.1.2 The rate enhancements (rate with enzyme catalysis divided by rate without enzyme catalysis) brought about by enzymes are often in the range of 107 to 1014) 2.1.3 For carbonic anhydrase, an enzyme catalyzing the hydration of CO2 (H2O + CO2 → HCO3 - + H+ ), the rate enhancement is 107 (each enzyme molecule can hydrate 105 molecules of CO2 per second!)