Horseradish peroxidase, ferryl intermediates

Ferryl complexes have been implicated in the reaction mechanisms of peroxidases and cytochromes P450. 38,1596 Pqj. horseradish peroxidase, two intermediates are spectroscopically detectable. Compound I, formed upon addition of peroxide to the resting Fe form of the enzyme, is a green species that is formally two oxidation levels higher than the resting state, and is widely believed to consist of an (Fe =0) + unit complexed by a porphyrin jt-cation radical. The [(P" ) Fe =0]+ complexes are discussed in Section 9. Compound II, which is red, and is obtained upon one-electron reduction of Compound I, also possesses a (Fe =0) + unit, in this case complexed by a normal porphyrin dianion, PFe =0. The fifth ligand, provided by the protein in the various enzymes, is a cysteine thiolate for the cytochromes nitric oxide synthases... 

Although ferryl intermediates of horseradish peroxidase and microperoxidase-8 have been produced in reactions with photogenerated [Ru(bpy)3]3+ [5], analogous experiments with P450s were unsuccessful, presumably due to the inefficiency of electron transfer from the buried heme active site through the protein backbone [6]. Photoactive molecular wires (sometimes referred to as metal-diimine wires, sensitizer-tethered substrates, or electron tunneling wires) were developed to circumvent this problem by providing a direct ET pathway between [Ru(bpy)3]3+ and the heme. These molecular wires, which combine the excellent photophysical properties of metal-diimine complexes... 

Several of the proteins with ferryl intermediates have been crystalised at sufficient resolution to allow the elucidation of their 3-dimensional structure. These include cytochrome c peroxidase [95], horseradish peroxidase [96], catalase [97], myeloperoxidase [98], ribonucleotide reductase [99], cytochrome P-450 [100] and myoglobin [101]. Of these only cytochrome c peroxidase has proved stable enough to crystallise with the iron in the ferryl form [26]. High-resolution structures exist for small FeIV model compounds, both in the presence [102] and absence [7,8] of an Fe=0 bond. These compounds can have sulphur, nitrogen and chloride ligation to the iron and the iron can be five [7,8] or six [8] coordinate. 

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