With benzyl alcohol as the varied substrate, sorbinil was found to be a competitive inhibitor of aldose reductase, an enzyme implicated in the etiology of secondary diabetic complications. The K(is sorbinil) and the Vmax/Km (V/K) benzyl alcohol decreased at low pH with a pK of 7.5 and 7.7, respectively. These observations suggest that both sorbinil and benzyl alcohol bind to the same site on the enzyme. Active site inhibition by sorbinil is consistent with non-competitive inhibition patterns of sorbinil with nucleotide coenzyme or aldehyde as the varied substrate in the direction of aldehyde reduction.