Yeast pyruvate kinase is irreversibly inactivated by 1.1 mM 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl adenosine at pH 8.6 with an initial rate constant of 0.019 min-1. A plot of kinact versus the 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl adenosine concentration yields a hyperbolic curve indicative of binding of the analog prior to reaction. Marked protection is afforded by phosphoenolpyruvate + fructose 1,6-diphosphate + Mg2+ or MgATP suggesting that reaction occurs within the active site. When assayed at less than saturating phosphoenolpyruvate concentrations, the inactivation caused by the reagent in the absence of added ligands appears slower, and reaction in the presence of phosphoenolpyruvate, fructose 1,6-diphosphate, and Mg2+ produces an activation of the enzyme, the extent of which is dependent on the assay concentration of phosphoenolpyruvate. The rate constant for activation was observed to be 0.113 min-1. The activated enzyme exhibits both a lowered K0.5 and Hill coefficient compared to native pyruvate kinase. Subsequent addition of 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl adenosine to activated pyruvate kinase in the absence of added ligands leads to inactivation with the rate constant independent of the assay concentration of phosphoenolpyruvate. Covalent reaction of pyruvate kinase with 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl adenosine thus occurs at two distinct sites. In the presence of phosphoenolpyruvate, fructose 1,6-diphosphate, and Mg2+, incorporation of tritiated 5'-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl adenosine is linearly proportional to the extent of activation of the enzyme, with 4 mol of reagent bound/mol of tetrameric pyruvate kinase for maximally activated enzyme. In the absence of added ligands, approximately 4.5 mol of reagent are incorporated/mol of enzyme at 15 min of reaction, while 80% of the original activity remains. Subsequent incorporation is proportional to the extent of inactivation with 8 mol bound at 100% in activaton. In the presence of phosphoenolpyruvate, fructose 1,6-diphospate, and Mg2+, 3 tyrosines and 1 lysine residue, and in the absence of ligands, 6 tyrosines and 2 lysine residues are modified, suggesting that both amino acids are within the two nucleotide sites.