We have used transient absorption spectroscopy in the UV–visible and X-ray regions to characterize the excited state of CarH, a protein photoreceptor that uses a form of B12, adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl), to sense light. With visible excitation, a nanosecond-lifetime photoactive excited state is formed with unit quantum yield. The time-resolved X-ray absorption near edge structure difference spectrum of this state demonstrates that the excited state of AdoCbl in CarH undergoes only modest structural expansion around the central cobalt, a behavior similar to that observed for methylcobalamin rather than for AdoCbl free in solution. We propose a new mechanism for CarH photoreactivity involving formation of a triplet excited state. This allows the sensor to operate with high quantum efficiency and without formation of potentially dangerous side products. By stabilizing the excited electronic state, CarH controls reactivity of AdoCbl and enables slow reactions that yield nonreactive products and bypass bond homolysis and reactive radical species formation.

We use picosecond time-resolved polarized Xray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) measurements to probe the structure of the long-lived photoexcited state of methylcobalamin (MeCbl) and the cob(II)alamin photoproduct formed following photoexcitation of adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl, coenzyme B 12 ). For MeCbl, we used 520 nm excitation and a time delay of 100 ps to avoid the formation of cob(II)alamin. We find only small spectral changes in the equatorial and axial directions, which we interpret as arising from small (<∼0.05 Å) changes in both the equatorial and axial distances. This confirms expectations based on prior UV−visible transient absorption measurements and theoretical simulations. We do not find evidence for the significant elongation of the Co−C bond reported by Subramanian et al. [J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2018, 9, 1542−1546 following 400 nm excitation. For AdoCbl, we resolve the difference XANES contributions along three unique molecular axes by exciting with both 540 and 365 nm light, demonstrating that the spectral changes are predominantly polarized along the axial direction, consistent with the loss of axial ligation. These data suggest that the microsecond "recombination product" identified by Subramanian et al. is actually the cob(II)alamin photoproduct that is produced following bond homolysis of MeCbl with 400 nm excitation. Our results highlight the pronounced advantage of using polarization-selective transient X-ray absorption for isolating structural dynamics in systems undergoing atomic displacements that are strongly correlated to the exciting optical polarization.

Ferulic acid decarboxylase catalyzes the decarboxylation of various substituted phenylacrylic acids to their corresponding styrene derivatives and CO 2 using the recently discovered cofactor prenylated FMN (prFMN). The mechanism involves an unusual 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction between prFMN and the substrate to generate a cycloadduct capable of undergoing decarboxylation. Using native mass spectrometry, we show the enzyme forms a stable prFMN−styrene cycloadduct that accumulates on the enzyme during turnover. Pre-steady state kinetic analysis of the reaction using ultraviolet−visible stopped-flow spectroscopy reveals a complex pattern of kinetic behavior, best described by a half-of-sites model involving negative cooperativity between the two subunits of the dimeric enzyme. For the reactive site, the cycloadduct of prFMN with phenylacylic acid is formed with a k app of 131 s −1 . This intermediate converts to the prFMN−styrene cycloadduct with a k app of 75 s −1 . Cycloelimination of the prFMN−styrene cycloadduct to generate styrene and free enzyme appears to determine k cat for the overall reaction, which is 11.3 s −1 .

Polarized transient X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) was used to probe the excited-state structure of a photostable B12 antivitamin (Coβ-2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-ethynylcobalamin, F2PhEtyCbl). A drop-on-demand delivery system synchronized to the LCLS X-ray free electron laser pulses was implemented and used to measure the XANES difference spectrum 12 ps following excitation, exposing only ∼45 μL of sample. Unlike cyanocobalamin (CNCbl), where the Co–C bond expands 15–20%, the excited state of F2PhEtyCbl is characterized by little change in the Co–C bond, suggesting that the acetylide linkage raises the barrier for expansion of the Co–C bond. In contrast, the lower axial Co–NDMB bond is elongated in the excited state of F2PhEtyCbl by ca. 10% or more, comparable to the 10% elongation observed for Co–NDMB in CNCbl.

Ferulic acid decarboxylase (FDC) catalyzes the reversible carboxylation of various substituted phenylacrylic acids to produce the correspondingly substituted styrenes and CO2. FDC is a member of the UbiD family of enzymes that use prenylated-FMN (prFMN) to catalyze decarboxylation reactions on aromatic rings and C–C double bonds. Although a growing number of prFMN-dependent enzymes have been identified, the mechanism of the reaction remains poorly understood. Here, we present a detailed pre-steady-state kinetic analysis of the FDC-catalyzed reaction of prFMN with both styrene and phenylacrylic acid. Based on the pattern of reactivity observed, we propose a “two-stroke” kinetic model in which negative cooperativity between the two subunits of the FDC homodimer plays an important and previously unrecognized role in catalysis. In this model, catalysis is initiated at the high-affinity active site, which reacts with phenylacrylate to yield, after decarboxylation, the covalently bound styrene–prFMN cycloadduct. In the second stage of the catalytic cycle, binding of the second substrate molecule to the low-affinity active site drives a conformational switch that interconverts the high-affinity and low-affinity active sites. This switching of affinity couples the energetically unfavorable cycloelimination of styrene from the first site with the energetically favorable cycloaddition and decarboxylation of phenylacrylate at the second site. We note as a caveat that, at this point, the complexity of the FDC kinetics leaves open other mechanistic interpretations and that further experiments will be needed to more firmly establish or refute our proposal.