A 59Co NMR relaxation probe of macromolecule anionic binding sites

⁵⁹Co NMR linewidth measurements are reported which show that hexacyanocobaltate-(III) ion may be used as a sensitive probe of protein interactions with anions in aqueous solutions. Applications are demonstrated to bovine serum albumin where the probe ion binding is monitored as a function of pH and is displaced from the protein sites by hexacyanoferrate(III) ion. The general utility of complex metal ions is suggested as a generally useful approach to the analysis of ion-macromolecule interactions.