Paramagnetic NMR investigations of Co(II) and Ni(II) amicyanin

 The paramagnetic ¹H NMR spectra of the Co(II) and Ni(II) substituted forms of the type 1 blue copper protein (cupredoxin) amicyanin have been assigned. This is the first such analysis of a cupredoxin, which has a distorted tetrahedral active site with the ligands provided by two histidines, a cysteine and a methionine. The isotropic shifts of the resonances in these spectra are compared with those of Co(II) and Ni(II) azurin. A number of interesting similarities and differences are found. The coordination of the metal by the two equatorial histidine ligands is very similar in both proteins. The interaction between the introduced metal and the thiolate sulfur of the equatorial cysteine ligand is enhanced in the amicyanin derivatives. Resonances belonging to the weak axial methionine ligand exhibit much larger shifts in the amicyanin derivatives, indicative of shorter M(II)-S(Met) distances. The presence of shorter axial M(II)-S(Met) and equatorial M(II)-S(Cys) distances in both Co(II) and Ni(II) amicyanin is ascribed to the absence of a second axially interacting amino acid at the active site of this cupredoxin. Received: 2 February 1999 / Accepted: 19 May 1999     

Single crystal EPR studies of the oxidized active site of [NiFe] hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Miyazaki F

The Ni-A and the Ni-B forms of the [NiFe] hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Miyazaki F have been studied in single crystals by continuous wave and pulsed EPR spectroscopy at different temperatures (280?K, 80?K, and 10?K). For the first time, the orientation of the g-tensor axes with respect to the recently published atomic structure of the active site at 1.8?Å resolution was elucidated for Ni-A and Ni-B. The determined g-tensors have a similar orientation. The configuration of the electronic ground state is proposed to be Ni(III) 3d ¹ _z2 for Ni-A and Ni-B. The g _z principal axis is close to the Ni-S(Cys549) direction; the g _x and the g _y axes are approximately along the Ni-S(Cys546) and Ni-S(Cys81) bonds, respectively. It is proposed that the difference between the Ni-A and Ni-B states lies in a protonation of the bridging ligand between the Ni and the Fe.     

Nickel(II)-substituted azurin I from Alcaligenes xylosoxidans as characterized by resonance Raman spectroscopy at cryogenic temperature

Metal-substituted blue copper proteins (cupredoxins) have been successfully used to study the effect of metal-ion identity on their active-site properties, specifically the coordination geometry and metal–ligand bond strengths. In this work, low-temperature (77 K) resonance Raman (RR) spectra of the blue copper protein Alcaligenes xylosoxidans azurin I and its Ni(II) derivative are reported. A detailed analysis of all observed bands is presented and responsiveness to metal substitution is discussed in terms of structural and bonding changes. The native cupric site exhibits a RR spectrum characteristic of a primarily trigonal planar (type 1) coordination geometry, identified by the ν(Cu–S)_Cys markers at 373, 399, 409, and 430 cm⁻¹. Replacement of Cu(II) with Ni(II) results in optical and RR spectra that reveal (1) a large hypsochromic shift in the main (Cys)S → M(II) charge-transfer absorption from 622 to 440 nm, (2) greatly reduced metal–thiolate bonding interaction, indicated by substantially lower ν(Ni–S)_Cys stretching frequencies, (3) elevation of the cysteine ν(C _β –S) stretching, amide III, and ρ _s(C _β H₂) scissors vibrational modes, and (4) primarily four-coordinated, trigonally distorted tetrahedral geometry of the Ni(II) site that is marked by characteristic ν(Ni–S)_Cys stretching RR bands at 347, 364, and 391 cm⁻¹. Comparisons of the electronic and vibrational properties between A. xylosoxidans azurin I and its closely structurally related azurin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa are made and discussed. For cupric azurins, the intensity-weighted average M(II)–S(Cys) stretching frequencies are calculated to be ν(Cu–S)_iwa = 406.3 and 407.6 cm⁻¹, respectively. These values decreased to ν(Ni–S)_iwa = 359.3 and 365.5 cm⁻¹, respectively, after Ni(II) → Cu(II) exchange, suggesting that the metal–thiolate interactions are similar in the two native proteins but are much less alike in their Ni(II)-substituted forms.     

Role of the active-site cysteine of Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin. Crystal structure analysis of the CuII(Cys112Asp) protein

Replacement of the cysteine at position 112 of Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin with an aspartic acid residue results in a mutant (Cys112Asp) protein that retains a strong copper-binding site. Cu^II(Cys112Asp) azurin can be reduced by excess [Ru^II(NH₃)₆]²⁺, resulting in a Cu^I protein with an electronic absorption spectrum very similar to that of wild-type Cu^I azurin. Cys112Asp azurin exhibits reversible interprotein electron-transfer reactivity with P. aeruginosa cytochrome c ₅₅₁ (μ?=?0.1?M sodium phosphate (pH?7.0);E°(Cu^II/I)?=?180 mV vs NHE); this redox activity indicates that electrons can still enter and exit the protein through the partially solvent-exposed imidazole ring of His117. The structure of Cu^II(Cys112Asp) azurin at 2.4-Å resolution shows that the active-site copper is five coordinate: the pseudo-square base of the distorted square-pyramidal structure is defined by the imidazole N^δ atoms of His46 and His117 and the oxygen atoms of an asymmetrically-bound bidentate carboxylate group of Asp112; the apical position is occupied by the oxygen atom of the backbone carbonyl group of Gly45. The Cu^II–Asp112 interaction is distinguished by an approximately 1.2-Å displacement of the metal center from the plane defined by the Asp112 carboxylate group.     

Native azurin and its Ni(II) derivative: a resonance Raman study.

Resonance Raman spectra are reported for native Cu(II) $\text{Pseudomonas}$$\text{aeruginosa}$ azurin and its Ni(II) substituted derivative. The spectrum of the native azurin includes a low frequency feature and bands in the first overtone region not previously reported. The spectrum of the Ni(II) derivative exhibits three major peaks in the metal-ligand stretching region shifted to lower frequency relative to the M-L peaks in the spectrum of native azurin. Resonance enhanced ligand modes are observed which indicate that at least two of the ligands in Ni(II) azurin (cysteine and at least one histidine) are the same as in native azurin. The data also suggest that the disposition of ligands about the metal may be more nearly tetrahedral in the Ni(II) derivative than in native azurin.     

The metal site of Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin,revealed by a crystal structure determination of the co(II) derivative and co-EPR spectroscopy

The crystal structure of cobalt-substituted azurin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been determined to final crystallographic R value of 0.175 at 1.9 Å resolution. There are four molecules in the asymmetric unit in the structure, and these four molecules are packed as a dimer of dimers. The dimer packing is very similar to that of the wild-type Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin dimer. Replacement of the native copper by the cobalt ion has only small effects on the metal binding site presumably because of the existence of an extensive network of hydrogen bonds in its immediate neighborhood. Some differences are obvious, however. In wild-type azurin the copper atom occupies a distorted trigonal bipyramidal site, while cobalt similar to zinc and nickel occupy a distorted tetrahedral site, in which the distance to the Met121,S^δ atom is increased to 3.3–3.5 Å and the distance to the carbonyl oxygen of Gly45 has decreased to 2.1–2.4 Å. The X-band EPR spectrum of the high-spin Co(II) in azurin is well resolved (apparent g values g_x′ = 5.23; g_y′ = 3.83; g_z′ = 1.995, and hyperfine splittings A_x′ = 31; A_y′ = 20–30; A_z′ = 53 G) and indicates that the ligand field is close to axial. Proteins 27:385–394, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Spectroscopic characterization of native and Co(II)-substituted zucchini mavicyanin

Mavicyanin from zucchini peelings has been characterized by electronic absorption, circular dichroism (CD), magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), resonance Raman (RR), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra. The electronic absorption, CD, MCD, and EPR spectra are appreciably similar to those of stellacyanin from lacquer, in which the tetrahedral Cu center has a donor set composed of four amino acid residues [2 histidine (His), cysteine (Cys), and glutamine (Gln)]. Under neutral conditions, mavicyanin and stellacyanin show intense blue bands at 599 and 604?nm, respectively. However, the RR spectrum of mavicyanin between 300 and 450?cm^–1, which is believed to originate from the predominant Cu–S stretching vibration, is remarkably different from that of stellacyanin. This might be due to a slight distortion of the tetrahedral Cu(II) center toward tetragonal geometry in mavicyanin. Moreover, the d–d transition bands of Co(II)-substituted mavicyanin are slightly blue-shifted compared with those of Co(II)-substituted stellacyanin. This finding also suggests a difference in distortion between these tetrahedral Co(II) centers in spite of the same donor sets.     

Cysteine ligand vibrations are responsible for the complex resonance Raman spectrum of azurin

 In the redox center of azurin, the Cu(II) is strongly coordinated to one thiolate S from Cys 112 and two imidazole Ns from His 46 and 117. This site yields a complex resonance Raman (RR) spectrum with >20 vibrational modes between 200 and 1500 cm^–1. We have investigated the effects of ligand-selective isotope replacements on the RR spectrum of Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin to determine the relative spectral contribution from each of the copper ligands. Growth on ³⁴S-sulfate labels the cysteine ligand and allows the identification of a cluster of bands with Cu–S(Cys) stretching character between 370 and 430 cm^–1 whose frequencies are consistent with the trigonal or distorted tetrahedral coordination in type 1 sites. In type 2 copper-cysteinate sites, the lower ν (Cu–S) frequencies between 260 and 320 cm^–1 are consistent with square-planar coordination. Addition of exogenous ¹⁵N-labeled imidazole or histidine to the His117Gly mutant generates type 1 or type 2 sites, respectively. Because neither the above nor the His46Gly mutant reconstituted with ¹⁵N-imidazole exhibits significant isotope dependence, the histidine ligands can be ruled out as important contributors to the RR spectrum. Instead, a variety of evidence, including extensive isotope shifts upon global substitution with ¹⁵N, suggests that the multiple RR modes of azurin are due principally to vibrations of the cysteine ligand. These are resonance-enhanced through kinematic coupling with the Cu–S stretch in the ground state or through an excited-state A-term mechanism involving a Cu-cysteinate chromophore that extends into the peptide backbone. Received: 29 July 1996 / Accepted: 9 November 1996     

Electron tunneling in proteins: role of the intervening medium

Analysis of electron-transfer (ET) kinetics data obtained from experiments on Ru-modified proteins (cytochrome c, azurin, myoglobin) reveals that distant donor-acceptor electronic couplings depend upon the secondary structure of the intervening polypeptide matrix. Rates of Fe²⁺→Ru³⁺ ET reactions in cytochrome c decay exponentially with tunneling-pathway length (decay constant 0.73?Å^–1); these rates also decay exponentially with Ru-Fe distance (decay constant 1.1?Å^–1). In azurin, a β-sheet protein, Cu⁺→Ru³⁺ rates exhibit an exponential Cu-Ru distance dependence with a decay constant of 1.1?Å^–1. Comparison of distant couplings in azurin and myoglobin suggests that hydrogen bonds are better mediators across β sheets than through α helices.     

Crystallographic and NMR investigation of cobalt-substituted amicyanin

Cobalt(II) amicyanin was prepared by replacing the copper of the type I copper protein amicyanin from Paracoccus denitrificans with cobalt. The structure of the protein and the metal center have been characterized by X-ray crystallography and paramagnetic NMR spectroscopy. The crystal structure indicates that Met98, which provides an axial sulfur ligand in native amicyanin, is no longer bound to the metal in cobalt(II) amicyanin and that a water molecule is recruited from solvent to form the fourth metal ligand. This results in a tetrahedral coordination geometry for the cobalt ion. NMR studies in solution also indicate that the side chain of the methionine residue interacts less strongly with the metal in P. denitrificans amicyanin than in Paracoccus versutus amicyanin. The cobalt(II) amicyanin crystal structure is different from that of cobalt-substituted azurin in which the carbonyl of a glycine residue provides this equivalent ligand. In cobalt(II) amicyanin that residue is a proline, for which the oxygen is structurally inaccessible, so that the water occupies the position held by the glycine carbonyl in cobalt(II) azurin. Such a metal coordination involving water has not previously been reported for a native or metal-substituted type I copper protein.     

Spectrochemical studies on the blue copper protein azurin from Alcaligenes denitrificans

Spectroscopic and electrochemical studies, incorporating electronic spectra, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra, resonance Raman (RR) spectra, and measurements of the redox potential, have been carried out on the blue copper protein azurin, from Alcaligenes denitrificans. These data are correlated with the refined crystal structure of this azurin and with corresponding data for other blue copper proteins. The electronic spectrum, characterized by an intense (epsilon = 5100 M-1 cm-1) charge-transfer band at 619 nm, the EPR spectral parameters (g perpendicular = 2.059, g parallel of = 2.255, A parallel of = 60 X 10(-4) cm-1), and the resonance Raman spectrum are similar to those obtained from other azurins and from plastocyanins. Both the electronic spectrum and the EPR spectrum are unchanged over the pH range 4-10.5, but major changes occur above pH 12 and below pH 3.5. A small reversible change occurs at pH approximately 11.4. In the RR spectrum the Cu-S stretching mode is shown to contribute to all of the five principal RR peaks. Deuterium substitution produces shifts in at least seven of the peaks; these shifts may be attributable, at least in part, to the NH...S hydrogen bond to the copper-ligated Cys-112. Measurements of the redox potential, using spectroelectrochemical methods, over the temperature range 4.8-40.0 degrees C, give values for delta H0' and delta S0' of -55.6 kJ mol-1 and -97.0 J K-1 mol-1, respectively. The redox potential of A. denitrificans azurin at pH 7.0, Eo', is 276 mV. These data are interpreted in terms of a copper site, in azurin, comprising three strong bonds, in an approximately trigonal plane, from Cys-112, His-46, and His-117 and much longer axial approaches from Met-121 and the peptide carbonyl oxygen of Gly-45. Spectral differences within the azurin family and between azurin and plastocyanin are attributed to differences in the strengths of these axial interactions. Likewise, the distinctly lower Eo values for azurins, as compared with plastocyanins, are related to the more copper(II)-like site in azurin [with a weaker Cu-S(Met) interaction and a Cu-O interaction not found in plastocyanin]. On the other hand, the relative constancy of the EPR parameters between azurin and plastocyanin suggests they are not strongly influenced by weakly interacting axial groups.     

Coordination chemistry of 7,9-disubstituted 6-oxopurine metal compounds. 4. Platinum(II) coordination at N(1). Molecular and crystal structure of [(ethylenediamine)bis(7,9-dimethylhypoxanthine)platinum(II)] hexafluorophosphate

The preparation and molecular and crystal structure of the complex [(ethylenediamine)bis(7,9,-dimethylhypoxanthine)platinum(II)] hexafluorophosphate, [Pt(C₂H₈N₂)(C₇H₈N₄O)₂] (PF₆)₂, are reported. The complex crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group C2/c, with a = 12.334(2)Å, b = 10.256(2)Å, c = 22.339(3)Å, β = 101.31(1)°, V = 2771.0ų, Z = 4, D_measd = 2.087(3) g cm^?3, D_calc = 2.094 g cm^?3. Intensities for 3992 symmetry-averaged reflections were collected in the θ-2o scan mode on an automated diffractometer employing graphite-monochromatized MoKα radiation. The structure was solved by standard heavy-atom Patterson and Fourier methods. Full matrix least-squares refinement led to a final R value of 0.051. Both the ethylenediamine chelate and the PF₆^? anion are disordered. The primary coordination sphere about the Pt(II) center is approximately square planar with the bidentate ethylenediamine ligand and the N(1) atoms [Pt(II) ? N(1) = 2.020(5)Å] of two 7,9-dimethylhypoxanthine bases (related by a crystallographic twofold axis of symmetry) occupying the four coordination sites. The exocyclic O(6) carbonyl oxygen atoms of the two 7,9-dimethylhypoxanthine ligands participate in intracomplex hydrogen bonding with the amino groups of the ethylenediamine chelate [N(ethylenediamine) ? O(6) = 2.89( )Å]. The observed Pt ? O(6) intramolecular distances of 3.074(6)Å are similar to those found in other Pt(II) N(1)-bound 6-oxopurine complexes and in several Pt(II) N(3)-bound cytosine systems.     

Crystal structure of (theophyllinato)methylmercury(II) monohydrate

The title compound belongs to space group P2₁/c, a = 10.884 Å, b = 9.187 Å, c = 14.458 Å, β = 131.02°, Z = 4. The structure was refined on 1355 nonzero reflections to an R factor of 0.059. The crystal contains discrete [CH₃Hg(theophyllinate)] molecules in which the proton initially bound to N7 is replaced by the CH₃Hg⁺ ion. The water molecule forms hydrogen bonds with both carbonyl oxygens, whereas an intermolecular contact of 2.98 Å is established between mercury and N9. The intramolecular Hg?O6 distance of 3.18 Å is consistent with the absence of significant Hg?carbonyl bonding interactions in the present structure.     

Transition-metal(II) thiocyanate coordination compounds containing 4-allyl-1,2,4-triazole. Structure and magnetic properties.

The synthesis and characterisation of a series of dinuclear and polynuclear coordination compounds with 4-allyl-1,2,4-triazole are described. Dinuclear compounds were obtained for Mn(II) and Fe(II) with composition [M₂(Altrz)₅(NCS)₄], and for Co(II) and Ni(II) with composition [M₂(Altrz)₄(H₂O)(NCS)₄](H₂O)₂. The crystal structure of [Co₂(Altrz)₄(H₂O)(NCS)₄](H₂O)₂ was solved at room temperature. It crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁/n. The lattice constants are a = 18.033(3) Å, b = 13.611(2) Å, c = 15.619(3) Å, β = 92.04(2)° Z = 4. One cobalt ion has an octahedrally arranged donor set of ligands consisting of three vicinal nitrogens of 1,2-bridging triazoles (CoN = 2.14–2.15 Å), one terminal triazole nitrogen (CoN = 2.12 Å) and two N-bonded NCS anions (CON = 2.08 Å). The other Co(II) ion has the same geometry, but the terminal triazole ligand is replaced by H₂O (CoO = 2.15 Å). The crystal structure is stabilised by hydrogen bonding through H₂O molecules, S-atoms of the NCS anions and the lone-pair electron of the monodentate triazole. The magnetic exchange in the Mn, Co and Ni compounds is antiferromagnetic with J-values of ?0.4 cm^?1, ?10.9 cm^?1 and ?8.7 cm^?1 respectively. The Co compound was interpreted in terms of an Ising model. For [Zn₂(Altrz)₅(NCS)₂]∞[Zn(NCS)₄], [Cu₂(Altrz)₃(NCS)₄]∞ and [Cd₂(Altrz)₃(NCS)₄]∞ chain structures are proposed. In the Cu compound thiocyanates appear to be present, bridging via the nitrogen atom, as deduced from the IR spectrum.     

Electron tunneling in proteins: role of the intervening medium

Analysis of electron-transfer (ET) kinetics data obtained from experiments on Ru-modified proteins (azurin, cytochrome c, myoglobin) and the bacterial photosynthetic reaction center reveals that distant donor-acceptor electronic couplings depend upon the secondary structure of the intervening polypeptide matrix. The β-sheet azurin structure efficiently and isotropically mediates coupling with an exponential distance-decay constant of 1.1?Å^–1. The experimentally derived distance-decay constant of 1.4?Å^–1 for long-range ET in myoglobin and the reaction center suggests that hydrogen-bond couplings are weaker through α helices than across β sheets. The donor-acceptor interactions of systems with comparable tunneling energies fall into two coupling zones: the β zone (bounded by distance-decay constants of 0.9?and 1.15 Å^–1) includes all the β-sheet (azurin) couplings and all but one coupling in cytochrome c; the α zone (boundaries: 1.25 and 1.6?Å^–1) includes less strongly coupled donor-acceptor pairs in myoglobin and the reaction center as well as a relatively weakly coupled pair in cytochrome c.     

Electron relaxation and solvent accessibility of the metal site in wild-type and mutated azurins as determined from nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion experiments

The interaction of water molecules with copper in wild-type azurin and different site-directed mutants of the coordinated residues is studied by nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion. Different degrees of solvent accessibility are found. The low relaxivity of wild-type azurin agrees with a solvent-protected copper site in solution, the closest water being found at a distance of more than 5?Å from the copper. This low relaxivity contrasts with the relatively large relaxivity of the His46Gly and His117Gly azurin mutants, which shows clear evidence of copper-coordinated water. The data on the latter mutants are best analyzed in terms of one and two water molecules coordinated to the copper in His46Gly and His117Gly, respectively. The Met121His azurin mutant shows an intermediate behavior. The data are analyzed in terms of an increased solvent accessibility with respect to the wild-type azurin, resulting in semi-coordination of water at low pH. These different modes of coordination lead to different geometries, ranging from the trigonal type 1 site of wild-type azurin to the tetragonal type 2 copper sites of the His117Gly and His46Gly azurin mutants through a so-called type 1.5 site of the Met121His mutant. A correlation is found between the relaxation time (τ_s) of the unpaired electron of copper(II) and the geometry of the metal site: as the tetragonal character decreases the relaxation becomes significantly faster. τ_s values of ≤1?ns are found for the tetrahedrally distorted type 1 and type 1.5 sites and of 5–15?ns for the tetragonal type 2 sites.     

Non-covalent interactions in blue copper protein probed by Met16 mutation and electronic and resonance Raman spectroscopy of Achromobacter cycloclastes pseudoazurin

We have used low-temperature (77 K) resonance Raman (RR) spectroscopy as a probe of the electronic and molecular structure to investigate weak π-π interactions between the metal ion-coordinated His imidazoles and aromatic side chains in the second coordination sphere of blue copper proteins. For this purpose, the RR spectra of Met16 mutants of Achromobacter cycloclastes pseudoazurin (AcPAz) with aromatic (Met16Tyr, Met16Trp, and Met16Phe) and aliphatic (Met16Ala, Met16Val, Met16Leu, and Met16Ile) amino acid side chains have been obtained and analyzed over the 100-500 cm⁻¹ spectral region. Subtle strengthening of the Cu(II)-S(Cys) interaction on replacing Met16 with Tyr, Trp, and Phe is indicated by the upshifted (0.3-0.8 cm⁻¹) RR bands involving ν(Cu-S)_Cys stretching modes. In contrast, the RR spectra of Met16 mutants with aliphatic amino acids revealed larger (0.2-1.8 cm⁻¹) shifts of the ν(Cu-S)_Cys stretching modes to a lower frequency region, which indicate a weakening of the Cu(II)-S(Cys) bond. Comparisons of the predominantly ν(Cu-S)_Cys stretching RR peaks of the Met16X = Tyr, Trp, and Phe variants, with the molar absorptivity ratio ε₁/ε₂ of σ(∼455 nm)/π(∼595 nm) (Cys)S → Cu(II) charge-transfer bands in the optical spectrum and the axial/rhombic EPR signals, revealed a slightly more trigonal disposition of ligands about the copper(II) ion. In contrast, the RR spectra of Met16Z = Ala, Val, Leu, and Ile variants with aliphatic amino acid side chains show a more tetrahedral perturbation of the copper active site, as judged by the lower frequencies of the ν(Cu-S)_Cys stretching modes, much larger values of the ε₁/ε₂ ratio, and the increased rhombicity of the EPR spectra.     

Intramolecular hydrogen bonding: synthesis and crystal structure of nickel(II) and copper(II) complexes of a tetradentate amine oxime

In the reaction of the tetradentate ligand 3,3′-(1,4- butanediyldiamino) bis (3-methyl-2-butanone)-dioxime (BnAO) with nickel(II) and copper(II), the monomeric [Ni(BnAO-H)]I·H₂O and a mixed monomer/dimer salt [Cu(BnAO-H)H₂O]₂[(Cu(BnAO-H))₂](ClO₄)₄, respectively, are formed, and all complexes have an intramolecular hydrogen bond between cis oxime groups. The OHO bonds give the characteristic infrared absorptions as well as the downfield proton-NMR signal (Ni complex). [Ni(BnAO-H)]I·H₂O crystallizes in space group P2₁/a with a=13.511(2), b=10.599(2), c=14.096(2) Å, β=97.52°, Z=4 and D_c=1.623 g/cm³. The structure was solved by Patterson and Fourier methods and refined by full-matrix least-squares techniques to a final R of 0.021 for 2124 reflections with I 2σ(I). The nickel(II) atom in the complex has slightly distorted square planar geometry with an intramolecular O···O contact of 2.417(7) Å. The copper(II) complex crystallizes in space group P2₁/c with a =13.425(2), b=21.446(3), c=14.349(4) Å, β= 104.4(5)°, Z=8 (monomers) and D_c=1.485 g/cm³. The final R value for this complex was 0.053 for 3033 reflections with I 2σ(I). This structure contains a monomeric [Cu(BnAO-H)H₂O]⁺ ion and a dimeric [(Cu(BnAO-H))₂]²⁺ ion, having intramolecular O···O hydrogen bonds of 2.421(5) and 2.531(5) Å, respectively. The copper(II) ions have square-pyramidal coordination with the axial positions occupied by an oxygen of the water of hydration in the monomer and by an oxime oxygen atom in the dimer. A center of symmetry relates the two halves of the dimer. The copper atom in each case is out of the plane of the four nitrogen atoms toward the axial site. The copper(II) complex is unusual in that the crystal contains both a monomer and a dimer.     

The influence of axial ligands on the reduction potential of blue copper proteins

 The reduction potentials of blue copper sites vary between 180 and about 1000 mV. It has been suggested that the reason for this variation is that the proteins constrain the distance between the copper ion and its axial ligands to different values. We have tested this suggestion by performing density functional B3LYP calculations on realistic models of the blue copper proteins, including solvent effects by the polarizable continuum method. Constraining the Cu-S_Met bond length to values between 245 and 310 pm (the range encountered in crystal structures) change the reduction potential by less than 70 mV. Similarly, we have studied five typical blue copper proteins spanning the whole range of reduction potentials: stellacyanin, plastocyanin, azurin, rusticyanin, and ceruloplasmin. These studies included the methionine (or glutamine) ligand as well as the back-bone carbonyl oxygen group that is a ligand in azurin and is found at larger distances in the other proteins. The active-site models of these proteins show a variation in the reduction potential of about 140 mV, i.e., only a minor part of the range observed experimentally (800 mV). Consequently, we can conclude that the axial ligands have a small influence on the reduction potentials of the blue copper proteins. Instead, the large variation in the reduction potentials seems to arise mainly from variations in the solvent accessibility of the copper site and in the orientation of protein dipoles around the copper site. Received: 7 April 1999 / Accepted: 26 July 1999     

Stereoelectronic properties of metalloenzymes. 10. a refined model that mimics the type II copper(II) site in galactose oxidase2

A number of copper(II) complexes of tridentate ligands with various donor atoms have been studied in an attempt to duplicate the unusual reactivity patterns and accompanying spectral changes of the copper(II) center in galactose oxidase. Results indicate that in order to match the optical and electron spin resonance spectral change observed upon CN^? binding by the enzyme, an equatorial, negative ligand must be displaced in a small molecule model. The crystal and molecular structure of the best model complex was solved by a single crystal X-ray diffraction study. The compound, monoacetato-1,3-bis(2-(4-methyl-pyridyl)imino)isoindolatocopper(II), crystallizes in the centro-symmetric triclinic space group Pī with a = 7.392(3) Å, b = 13.782(5) Å, c = 23.422(12) Å, α = 92.08(3)°, β = 104.11(5)°, γ = 109.98(4)°, V = 2156(1) ų, d(obsd.)(calc.)=(1.43)(1.44) g/cm^?3 for mol wt of 466.7 and Z = 4. Diffraction data were collected with a Syntex Pl diffractometer using graphite-monochromatized Cu radiation (λ = 1.5418 Å). The copper atoms were located from a Patterson synthesis; all other nonhydrogen atoms were located via difference. Fourier techniques, and hydrogen atoms were placed in calculated positions. Final refinement resulted in discrepancy indices of R = 0.089 and “Goodness to Fit” = 3.68 for all 3608 reflections having (I) ? 3σ(I) (5°<2θ<100°). There are two unique molecules in the asymmetric unit that are monomeric and well separated. The geometry around the copper atom is approximately square pyramidal, with the coordination sphere derived from three nitrogens of the tridentate ligand, one oxygen from the acetate unit, and an oxygen atom of a water molecule occupying an axial position. The structure is surprising both in that an axial water molecule is present and that the remaining four ligand atoms to the copper atom are rather distorted from a planar configuration. The plane defined by the copper, N5, and N3 atoms intersects the plane defined by the copper, Nl, and Ol, atoms forming a “twist angle” of 25.0° (0.0° would be ideal for a planar inner coordination sphere). The stereoelectronics of the inner coordination spheres of the type II Cu(II) enzymes galactose oxidase and superoxide dismutase are discussed and appropriate comparisons are made with emphasis on the origin of spectral changes observed upon anion binding.