The principle is much more fundamental: biochemistry is still
chemistry, a massively complex system of reactions.  Most reactions
are temperature dependent for fundamental physical reasons, and
variations in those reaction rates change the balance of the
biochemistry.  Reactions that dissipate less energy are generally more
prone to vary with temperature, so there's a trade-off involved
between biological efficiency and temperature sensitivity.  It's
certainly reasonable for one to win out over the other in an
evolutionary context, but a change of solvent alone won't suffice to
force the issue one way or the other.

- Tim