Cluster chemistry cyanide-bridged complexes

This is a remarkable reaction because the transition metal chemistry of N2O is sparse, especially with copper. Most N2O reductases are soluble, periplasmic homodimers however, there are examples of membrane-associated enzymes. " The best characterized N2O reductases are from Paracoccus denitrificans, Pseudomonas nautica, and Pseudomonas stutzeri, and most of the information presented here is derived from experiments on these enzymes. Where comparable data are available, N2O reductases from various organisms appear to be fairly similar, with the exception of the enzyme from Wolinella succinogenes, as noted above. The crystal stractmes of N2O reductase from P. nautica and more recently from P. denitrificans show two distinct copper clusters per subunit a bis-thiolate bridged dinuclear electron-transfer site (Cua), which is analogous to the Cua site in cytochrome c oxidase see Cyanide Complexes of the Transition Metals), and a novel four-copper cluster ligated by seven histidines, the catalytic copper site (Cuz), where N2O is thought to bind and be reduced. Cuz was proposed to be a copper-histidine cluster on the basis of the presence of nine strictly conserved histidine residues, and this was supported by a H NMR study that identified two non-CuA associated resonances that were assigned as copper-histidine N-H protons. ... 

Our discussion will comprise separately the mononitrosyl, polynitrosyl, bridging, and cluster nitrosyl complexes, with emphasis on the first group. We present different types of MNO compounds, without attempting to collect all available structures. Examples with either classical coligands (amines, cyanides, water, polypyridines, etc.) or porphyrin compounds have been chosen, in an attempt to illustrate recent developments in the field. Apart from the information contained in the previous Comprehensive Coordination Chemistry (CCC, 1987)17 a comprehensive review on structures... 

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