Iron-sulfur proteins, valence electrons

Contact shifts give information on the electronic structure of the iron atoms, particularly on the valence distribution and on the magnetic coupling within polymetallic systems. The magnetic coupling scheme, which is considered later, fully accounts for the variety of observed hyperfine shifts and the temperature dependence. Thus, through the analysis of the hyperfine shifts, NMR provides detailed information on the metal site(s) of iron-sulfur proteins, and, thanks to the progress in NMR spectroscopy, also the solution structure 23, 24 ). 

A condition where metal ions within a coordination complex or cluster are present in more than one oxidation state. In such systems, there is often complete delocalization of the valence electrons over the entire complex or cluster, and this is thought to facilitate electron-transfer reactions. Mixed valency has been observed in iron-sulfur proteins. Other terms for this behavior include mixed oxidation state and nonintegral oxidation state. 

This cluster formally contains three iron(III) and one iron(E). It is present in a class of proteins called high potential iron-sulfur proteins (HiPIP). It has also been prepared through oxidation of [(RS)4Fe4S4]2 model compounds [57]. Both in the model compound at low temperatures and in proteins there is electron delocalization on one mixed valence pair [58-62]. Therefore, the polymetallic center is constituted by two iron ions at the oxidation state +2.5 and two iron ions at the oxidation state +3. Hamiltonian (6.20), or a more complicated one [40, 41,43], can be used to describe the electronic structure. Indeed, a delocalization operator is sometimes needed in the Hamiltonian [40,41,43]. Consistently with magnetic Mossbauer data the S M subspin involving the mixed valence pair is 9/2, whereas the S n subspin involving the iron(IH) ions is 4. Mossbauer and EPR data do not exclude % and 3, respectively, for the two pairs [57] in any case, the... 

As shown in Table 5.2 the oxidation states of the tetrameres may also be formally rationalized considering they are built up of iron atoms with oxidation states + 3 and -h 2 which are the normal oxidation states for iron coordinated tetrahedrically by weak-field ligands. However as emphasized above, the system as a whole must be considered for proteins as well as for synthetic analogues as a mixed-valence system and in no case as a trapped-valence one constituted by distinguishable iron atoms with different oxidation states. This feature that determine that these tetrameric iron-sulfur species are the first non classical system known in biology is supported by spectroscopic techniques able to detect electronic states with half-life times in a wide range s) and at... 

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