Abstract
Two proteins, haemoglobin and bovine serum albumin, have been studied with respect to their rates of alkylation by chlorambucil in vitro at 37 °C and pH 8.4. The proteins are of nearly the same molecular weight and free carboxylic acid content, but the alkylation reaction is 30 times faster with haemoglobin. On the other hand, the adsorption of chlorambucil by albumin is 20 times greater than that exhibited by haemoglobin. This inverse relationship between extent of adsorption and reaction rate suggests that adsorption protects the chlorambucil from activation in the solvent.