Coupling antiferromagnetic

P. Griinberg, R. Schreiber, Y. Pang, M.B. Brodsky, and H. Sowers, Layered magnetic structures Evidence for antiferromagnetic coupling of Fe layers across Cr interlayers, Phys. Rev. Lett. 57, 2442 (1986). 

Four strongly downshifted signals in each spectrum, between 50 and 110 ppm, were assigned to the four CB protons of the cysteines coordinating the Fe ". The contact shifts of the protons reflect the coordination of cysteine to the Fe " of the antiferromagnetically coupled Fe "-Fe" pair as the cysteine protons sense the spin down orientation of the Fe " (S = ) site. This is supported by the observation that the temperature dependence of the cysteine H" protons (measured between 276 and 308 K) follows Curie behavior (decreasing contact shift with increasing temperature). 

The two iron ions of the Rieske cluster are antiferromagnetically coupled therefore, the ground state has a spin S = while excited states of the spin ladder S = I, i, I, and, are at energies -3J, 8J,... 

For all known cases of iron-sulfur proteins, J > 0, meaning that the system is antiferromagnetically coupled through the Fe-S-Fe moiety. Equation (4) produces a series of levels, each characterized by a total spin S, with an associated energy, which are populated according to the Boltzmann distribution. Note that for each S level there is in principle an electron relaxation time. For most purposes it is convenient to refer to an effective relaxation time for the whole cluster. 

Strongly supporting this spectroscopic data, Mossbauer spectroscopy of the as-isolated Rr shows the presence of two types of iron centers a magnetic component that can be well simulated by the parameters of Rd, and a diamagnetic component attributed to the diiron-oxo cluster and resulting from the antiferromagnetic coupling of the two irons. 

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