Trinuclear iron-sulfur clusters structures

Trinuclear Cuboidal and Heterometallic Cubane-Type Iron-Sulfur Clusters New Structural and Reacticity Themes in Chemistry and Biology R. H. Holm... 

The complexity of the low temperature MCD spectra of the oxidized and reduced trinuclear cluster shows the multiplicity of the predominantly S — Fe charge transfer transitions that contribute to the absorption envelope. While MCD spectroscopy provides a method of resolving the electronic transitions, assignment cannot be attempted without detailed knowledge of the electronic structure. However, the complexity of the low temperature MCD spectra is useful in that it furnishes a discriminating method for determining the type and redox state of protein bound iron-sulfur clusters. Each well characterized type of iron-sulfur cluster, i.e. [2Fe-2S], [3Fe-4S], and [4Fe-4S], has been shown to have a characteristic low temperature MCD spectrum in each paramagnetic redox state (1)... 

B7.13 Trinuclear cuboidal and heterometallic cubane-type iron-sulfur clusters new structural and reactivity themes in chemistry and biology... 

There are hundreds of iron-containing enzymes. In general, the iron can exist as (a) a mononuclear site, in which it is coordinated by a tetrapyrrole structure (hemes) or strictly by amino acid residues that donate oxo, nitrogen, or sulfur ligands (b) a dinuclear site in which the irons are bridged by oxo, nitrogen, or sulfur coordination (c) a trinuclear site as in the 3Fe-4S clusters or (d) a tetranuclear site as in the [4Fe-4S] clusters. 

---