The kinetic mechanism and the substrate specificity of liver alcohol dehydrogenase are changed when 3-benzoylpyridine-adenine dinucleotide is used as coenzyme. Only primary alcohols are substrates of the enzyme and with ethanol the mechanism becomes rapid-equilibrium random bi-bi. According to model building experiments on a graphic display, the benzoyl group partially enters the substrate binding site, whereas the essential interactions between coenzyme and enzyme are preserved. This restraint on the substrate binding site provides a molecular explanation for the observed dependence between coenzyme and substrate chemical structures.