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Protonation of Homocitrate and the E1 State of Fe-Nitrogenase Studied by QM/MM Calculations

Jiang, Hao LU orcid ; Lundgren, Kristoffer j. m. LU and Ryde, Ulf LU orcid (2023) In Inorganic Chemistry 62(48). p.19433-19445
Abstract
Nitrogenase is the only enzyme that can cleave the strong triple bond in N2, making nitrogen available for biological life. There are three isozymes of nitrogenase, differing in the composition of the active site, viz., Mo, V, and Fe-nitrogenase. Recently, the first crystal structure of Fe-nitrogenase was presented. We have performed the first combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) study of Fe-nitrogenase. We show with QM/MM and quantum-refinement calculations that the homocitrate ligand is most likely protonated on the alcohol oxygen in the resting E0 state. The most stable broken-symmetry (BS) states are the same as for Mo-nitrogenase, i.e., the three Noodleman BS7-type states (with a surplus of β spin on the eighth... (More)
Nitrogenase is the only enzyme that can cleave the strong triple bond in N2, making nitrogen available for biological life. There are three isozymes of nitrogenase, differing in the composition of the active site, viz., Mo, V, and Fe-nitrogenase. Recently, the first crystal structure of Fe-nitrogenase was presented. We have performed the first combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) study of Fe-nitrogenase. We show with QM/MM and quantum-refinement calculations that the homocitrate ligand is most likely protonated on the alcohol oxygen in the resting E0 state. The most stable broken-symmetry (BS) states are the same as for Mo-nitrogenase, i.e., the three Noodleman BS7-type states (with a surplus of β spin on the eighth Fe ion), which maximize the number of nearby antiferromagnetically coupled Fe–Fe pairs. For the E1 state, we find that protonation of the S2B μ2 belt sulfide ion is most favorable, 14–117 kJ/mol more stable than structures with a Fe-bound hydride ion (the best has a hydride ion on the Fe2 ion) calculated with four different density-functional theory methods. This is similar to what was found for Mo-nitrogenase, but it does not explain the recent EPR observation that the E1 state of Fe-nitrogenase should contain a photolyzable hydride ion. For the E1 state, many BS states are close in energy, and the preferred BS state differs depending on the position of the extra proton and which density functional is used. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Inorganic Chemistry
volume
62
issue
48
pages
19433 - 19445
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:37987624
  • scopus:85178602889
ISSN
1520-510X
DOI
10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c02329
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0d71f111-d968-4913-9160-e10f6d863f3d
date added to LUP
2023-11-21 16:19:41
date last changed
2024-01-18 04:03:55
@article{0d71f111-d968-4913-9160-e10f6d863f3d,
  abstract     = {{Nitrogenase is the only enzyme that can cleave the strong triple bond in N2, making nitrogen available for biological life. There are three isozymes of nitrogenase, differing in the composition of the active site, viz., Mo, V, and Fe-nitrogenase. Recently, the first crystal structure of Fe-nitrogenase was presented. We have performed the first combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) study of Fe-nitrogenase. We show with QM/MM and quantum-refinement calculations that the homocitrate ligand is most likely protonated on the alcohol oxygen in the resting E0 state. The most stable broken-symmetry (BS) states are the same as for Mo-nitrogenase, i.e., the three Noodleman BS7-type states (with a surplus of β spin on the eighth Fe ion), which maximize the number of nearby antiferromagnetically coupled Fe–Fe pairs. For the E1 state, we find that protonation of the S2B μ2 belt sulfide ion is most favorable, 14–117 kJ/mol more stable than structures with a Fe-bound hydride ion (the best has a hydride ion on the Fe2 ion) calculated with four different density-functional theory methods. This is similar to what was found for Mo-nitrogenase, but it does not explain the recent EPR observation that the E1 state of Fe-nitrogenase should contain a photolyzable hydride ion. For the E1 state, many BS states are close in energy, and the preferred BS state differs depending on the position of the extra proton and which density functional is used.}},
  author       = {{Jiang, Hao and Lundgren, Kristoffer j. m. and Ryde, Ulf}},
  issn         = {{1520-510X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{11}},
  number       = {{48}},
  pages        = {{19433--19445}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{Inorganic Chemistry}},
  title        = {{Protonation of Homocitrate and the E1 State of Fe-Nitrogenase Studied by QM/MM Calculations}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c02329}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c02329}},
  volume       = {{62}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}