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X-ray absorption near-edge spectra (XANES) are reported for 44 Ni(I1) and Ni(II1) complexes with Nand/or S-donor ligands.The spectra reveal features associated with 1s -3d and 1s -4p, electronic transitions, whose presence or absence and intensity provide information that allows the coordination number/geometry of the complex to be determined in most cases. The complexes in this study were selected in order to examine the reliability of coordination number/geometry assignments in complexes with low symmetry and to examine the effects on the spectra of a change in formal oxidation state from +I1 to +HI. The effects on the spectra due to changes in the ligand environment are examined, and the edge energy and the breadth of the edge are found to correlate with the average hardness of the ligand environment. The effects on the spectra due to oxidation state changes are examined by using several pairs of Ni(II/III) isoleptic complexes. These compounds reveal that the effects of changes in the formal oxidation state of the Ni center are strongly dependent on the nature of the ligands present, with S-donor ligands giving rise to smaller shifts in edge energy than N,O-donor ligands. These trends are indicative of the increasing role of ligand oxidation in Ni(lI1) thiolate complexes. These trends are corroborated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) studies that show a similar trend in both ligand and metal electron binding energies. The information obtained from the model studies is used to examine the Ni K-edge XANES spectrum obtained from a sample of Thiocapsa roseopersicina hydrogenase poised in form C. This spectrum is shown to be consistent with a distorted trigonal-bipyramidal geometry and a mixed 0,N-and S-donor ligand environment for this biological Ni site. ' (3) (a) Cammack, R.; Fernandez, V. M.; Schneider, K. In The Bioinorganic Chemistry of Nickel; Lancaster, J. R., Ed.; VCH: Deerfield Beach, FL, 1988; Chapter 8. (b) Moura, J. J. G.; Tiexera, M.; Moura, I.; LeGall. J. Ibid., Chapter 9. (c) Bastian, N. R.; Wink, D. A.; Wackett, L. P.; Livingston, D. J.; Jordan, L. M.; Fox, J.; Orme-Johnson, W. H.; Walsh, C. T. Ibid., Chapter 10. (4) Ragsdale, S . W.; Wood, H. G.; Morton, T. A.; Ljungdahl, L. G.; DerVartanian, D. Hasnain, S. S.; Piggott, B.; Williams, D. J. Biochem. J. 1984, 220, 591. (9) Fauque, G.; Peck, H. D., Jr.; Moura, J. J. G.; Huynh. B. H.; Berlier, Y.; DerVartanian, D. V.; Teixeira, M.; Przybyla, A. E.; Lespinat, P. A.; Moura, I.; LeGall, J. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 1988, 54, 299. (IO) (a) Lindahl, P. A.; Kojima, N.; Hausinger, R. P.; Fox, J. A,; Tco, B. K.; Walsh, C. T.; Orme-Johnson, W. H. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1984,106, 3062. (b) Scott, R. A.; Wallin, S . A.; Czechowski, M.; Dervartanian, D. V.; LeGall, J.; Peck, H. D., Jr.; Moura, I. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1984, 106, 6864. (c) Scott, R. A.; Czechowski, M.; DerVartanian, D. V.; LeGall, J.; Peck, H. D., Jr.; Moura, I. Rev. Port. Quim. 1985, 27,67. (d) Albracht, S . P. J.; Kroger, A,; van der Zwaan, J. W.; Unden, G.; Bikher, R.; Mell, H.; Fontijn, R. D. Bioc...

Escherichia coli RcnR and Mycobacterium tuberculosis CsoR are the founding members of a recently identified, large family of bacterial metal-responsive DNA-binding proteins. RcnR controls the expression of the metal efflux protein RcnA only in response to Ni(II) and Co(II) ions. Here, the interaction of Ni(II) and Co(II) with wild-type and mutant RcnR proteins is examined to understand how these metals function as allosteric effectors. Both metals bind to RcnR with nanomolar affinity and stabilize the protein to denaturation. X-ray absorption and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies reveal six-coordinate high-spin sites for each metal that contains a thiolate ligand. Experimental data support a tripartite N-terminal coordination motif (NH2-Xaa-NH-His) that is common for both metals. However, the Ni(II)- and Co(II)-RcnR complexes are shown to differ in the remaining coordination environment. Each metal coordinates a conserved Cys ligand but with distinct M-S distances. Co(II)-thiolate coordination has not been observed previously in Ni(II)-/Co(II)-responsive metalloregulators. The ability of RcnR to recruit ligands from the N-terminal region of the protein distinguishes it from CsoR, which uses a lower coordination geometry to bind Cu(I). These studies facilitate comparisons between Ni(II)-RcnR and NikR, the other Ni(II)-responsive transcriptional regulator in E. coli, to provide a better understanding how different nickel levels are sensed in E. coli. The characterization of the Ni(II)- and Co(II)-binding sites in RcnR, in combination with bioinformatics analysis of all RcnR/CsoR family members, identified a four amino acid fingerprint that likely defines ligand-binding specificity, leading to an emerging picture of the similarities and differences between different classes of RcnR/CsoR proteins.

Ni-containing superoxide dismutase (NiSOD) is the most recently discovered member of the class of metalloenzymes that detoxify the superoxide radical in aerobic organisms. In this study, we have employed a variety of spectroscopic and computational methods to probe the electronic structure of the NiSOD active site in both its oxidized (NiSOD(ox), possessing a low-spin (S = (1)/(2)) Ni(3+) center) and reduced (NiSOD(red), containing a diamagnetic Ni(2+) center) states. Our experimentally validated computed electronic-structure description for NiSOD(ox) reveals strong sigma-bonding interactions between Ni and the equatorial S/N ligands, which give rise to intense charge-transfer transitions in the near-UV region of the absorption spectrum. Resonance Raman (rR) spectra obtained with laser excitation in this region exhibit two features at 349 and 365 cm(-)(1) that are assigned to Ni-S(Cys) stretching modes. The NiSOD(red) active site also exhibits a high degree of metal-ligand bond covalency as well as filled/filled pi-interactions between Ni and S/N orbitals, which serve to adjust the redox potential of the Ni(2+) center. Comparison of our computational results for NiSOD(red) with those obtained in parallel studies of synthetic [NiS(2)N(2)] complexes reveals that the presence of an anionic N-donor ligand is crucial for promoting metal-based (versus S-based) oxidation of the active site. The implications of our electronic-structure descriptions with respect to the function of NiSOD are discussed, and a comparison of M-S(Cys) bonding in NiSOD and other metalloenzymes with sulfur ligation is provided.

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