De novo proteins provide a unique opportunity for investigating the structure-function relationships of metalloproteins in a minimal, well-defined, and controlled scaffold. Herein, we describe the rational programming of function in a de novo designed di-iron carboxylate protein from the due ferri family. Originally created to catalyze O2-dependent, two-electron oxidation of hydroquinones, the protein was reprogrammed to catalyze the selective N-hydroxylation of arylamines by remodeling the substrate access cavity and introducing a critical third His ligand to the metal binding cavity. Additional second-and third-shell modifications were required to stabilize the His ligand in the core of the protein. These changes resulted in at least a 106 –fold increase in the relative rates of the two reactions. This result highlights the potential for using de novo proteins as scaffolds for future investigations of geometric and electronic factors that influence the catalytic tuning of di-iron active sites.
DFsc (single-chain due ferri) proteins allow for modeling binuclear non-heme iron enzymes with a similar fold. Three 4A → 4G variants of DFsc were studied to investigate the effects of (1) increasing the size of the substrate/solvent access channel (G4DFsc), (2) including an additional His residue in the first coordination sphere along with three additional helix-stabilizing mutations [3His-G4DFsc(Mut3)], and (3) the three helix-stabilizing mutations alone [G4DFsc-(Mut3)] on the biferrous structures and their O2 reactivities. Near-infrared circular dichroism and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy show that the 4A → 4G mutations increase coordination of the diiron site from 4-coordinate/5-coordinate to 5-coordinate/5-coordinate, likely reflecting increased solvent accessibility. While the three helix-stabilizing mutations [G4DFsc(Mut3)] do not affect the coordination number, addition of the third active site His residue [3His-G4DFsc(Mut3)] results in a 5-coordinate/6-coordinate site. Although all 4A → 4G variants have significantly slower pseudo-first-order rates when reacting with excess O2 than DFsc (~2 s−1), G4DFsc and 3His-G4DFsc(Mut3) have rates (~0.02 and ~0.04 s−1) faster than that of G4DFsc(Mut3) (~0.002 s−1). These trends in the rate of O2 reactivity correlate with exchange coupling between the Fe(II) sites and suggest that the two-electron reduction of O2 occurs through end-on binding at one Fe(II) rather than through a peroxy-bridged intermediate. UV–vis absorption and MCD spectroscopies indicate that an Fe(III)Fe(III)-OH species first forms in all three variants but converts into an Fe(III)-μ-OH-Fe(III) species only in the 2-His forms, a process inhibited by the additional active site His ligand that coordinatively saturates one of the iron centers in 3His-G4DFsc(Mut3).
Using the single-chain due ferri (DFsc) peptide scaffold, the differential oxidase and oxygenase reactivities of two 4A→4G variants, one with two histidines at the diiron center (G4DFsc) and the other with three histidines (3His-G4DFsc(Mut3)), are explored. By controlling the reaction conditions, the active form responsible for 4-aminophenol (4-AP) oxidase activity in both G4DFsc and 3His-G4DFsc(Mut3) is determined to be the substrate-bound biferrous site. Using circular dichroism (CD), magnetic CD (MCD), and variable-temperature, variable-field (VTVH) MCD spectroscopies, 4-AP is found to bind directly to the biferrous sites of the DF proteins. In G4DFsc, 4-AP increases the coordination of the biferrous site, while in 3His-G4DFsc(Mut3), the coordination number remains the same and the substrate likely replaces the additional bound histidine. This substrate binding enables a two-electron process where 4-AP is oxidized to benzoquinone imine and O2 is reduced to H2O2. In contrast, only the biferrous 3His variant is found to be active in the oxygenation of p-anisidine to 4-nitroso-methoxybenzene. From CD, MCD, and VTVH MCD, p-anisidine addition is found to minimally perturb the biferrous centers of both G4DFsc and 3His-G4DFsc(Mut3), indicating that this substrate binds near the biferrous site. In 3His-G4DFsc(Mut3), the coordinative saturation of one iron leads to the two-electron reduction of O2 at the second iron to generate an end-on hydroperoxo-Fe(III) active oxygenating species.
The tris(pyrazolyl)borate and related tripodal N-donor ligands originally developed by Trofimenko stabilize mononuclear compounds containing MoVIO2, MoVIO, MoVO, and MoIVO units and effectively inhibit their polynucleation in organic solvents. Dioxo-Mo(VI) complexes of the type LMoO2(SPh), where L = hydrotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)borate (Tp*), hydrotris(3-isopropylpyrazol-1-yl)borate (TpiPr), and hydrotris(3,5-dimethyl-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)borate (Tz) and related derivatives are the only model systems that mimic the complete reaction sequence of sulfite oxidase, in which oxygen from water is ultimately incorporated into product. The quasi-reversible, one-electron reduction of Tp*MoO2(SPh) in acetonitrile exhibits a positive potential shift upon addition of a hydroxylic proton donor, and the magnitude of the shift correlates with the acidity of the proton donor. These reductions produce two Mo(V) species, [Tp*MoVO2(SPh)]− and Tp*MoVO(OH)(SPh), that are related by protonation. Measurement of the relative amounts of these two Mo(V) species by EPR spectroscopy enabled the pKa of the MoV(OH) unit in acetonitrile to be determined and showed it to be several pKa units smaller than that for water in acetonitrile. Similar electrochemical-EPR experiments for TpiPrMoO2(SPh) indicated that the pKa for its MoV(OH) unit was ∼1.7 units smaller than that for Tp*MoVO(OH)(SPh). Density functional theory calculations also predict a smaller pKa for iPrMoVO(OH)(SPh) compared to Tp*MoVO(OH)(SPh). Analysis of these results indicates that coupled electron-proton transfer (CEPT) is thermodynamically favored over the indirect process of metal reduction followed by protonation. The crystal structure of TpiPrMoO2(SPh) is also presented.
Molecules of the general form Tp*MoO(OR)2 (where Tp* = hydrotris(3,5-dimethyl-1-pyrazolyl)borate and (OR)2 = (OMe)2, (OEt)2, and (OnPr)2 for alkoxide ligands, and (OR)2 = O(CH2)3O, O(CH2)4O, and O[CH(CH3)CH2CH(CH3)]O for diolato ligands) were studied using gas-phase photoelectron spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and density functional theory calculations to examine the effect of increasing ligand size and structure on the oxo-molybdenum core. Oxidation potentials and first ionization energies are shown to be sensitive to the character of the diolato and alkoxide ligands. A linear correlation between the solution-phase oxidation potentials and the gas-phase ionization energies resulted in an unexpected slope of greater than unity. Density functional theory calculations indicated that this unique example of a system in which oxidation potentials are more sensitive to substitution than vertical ionization energies is due to the large differences in the cation reorganization energies, which range from 0.2 eV or less for the molecules with diolato ligands to around 0.5 eV for the molecules with alkoxide ligands.
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