The phosphoryl transfer reaction from phospho-L-serine (pSer), catalyzed by phosphoserine phosphatase, is investigated using the hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations. The two-dimensional energy surface along the phosphoryl and proton transfer distances reveals early protonation of the leaving group oxygen of pSer, prior to the transition state (TS), which triggers subsequent phosphoryl transfer reaction. Calculated electronic properties of the phosphoryl group at the active site suggest significant metaphosphate-like character of TS, which is consistent with kinetic experiments on related phosphatases. The features are not obtained with a one-dimensional search along the phosphoryl transfer coordinate, due to inadequate description of proton movement. (c) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.