Mercury(II) binds to both of chymotrypsin's histidines, causing inhibition followed by irreversible denaturation/aggregation.

The toxicity of mercury is often attributed to its tight binding to cysteine thiolate anions in vital enzymes. To test our hypothesis that Hg(II) binding to histidine could be a significant factor in mercury's toxic effects, we studied the enzyme chymotrypsin, which lacks free cysteine thiols; we found that chymotrypsin is not only inhibited, but also denatured by Hg(II). We followed the aggregation of denatured enzyme by the increase in visible absorbance due to light scattering. Hg(II)-induced chymotrypsin precipitation increased dramatically above pH 6.5, and free imidazole inhibited this precipitation, implicating histidine-Hg(II) binding in the process of chymotrypsin denaturation/aggregation. Diethylpyrocarbonate (DEPC) blocked chymotrypsin's two histidines (his40 and his57 ) quickly and completely, with an IC50 of 35 ± 6 µM. DEPC at 350 µM reduced the hydrolytic activity of chymotrypsin by 90%, suggesting that low concentrations of DEPC react with his57 at the active site catalytic triad; furthermore, DEPC below 400 µM enhanced the Hg(II)-induced precipitation of chymotrypsin. We conclude that his57 reacts readily with DEPC, causing enzyme inhibition and enhancement of Hg(II)-induced aggregation. Above 500 µM, DEPC inhibited Hg(II)-induced precipitation, and [DEPC] >2.5 mM completely protected chymotrypsin against precipitation. This suggests that his40 reacts less readily with DEPC, and that chymotrypsin denaturation is caused by Hg(II) binding specifically to the his40 residue. Finally, we show that Hg(II)-histidine binding may trigger hemoglobin aggregation as well. Because of results with these two enzymes, we suggest that metal-histidine binding may be key to understanding all heavy metal-induced protein aggregation.

Protein environmental effects on iron-sulfur clusters: A set of rules for constructing computational models for inner and outer coordination spheres.

The structural properties and reactivity of iron-sulfur proteins are greatly affected by interactions between the prosthetic groups and the surrounding amino acid residues. Thus, quantum chemical investigations of the structure and properties of protein-bound iron-sulfur clusters can be severely limited by truncation of computational models. The aim of this study was to identify, a priori, significant interactions that must be included in a quantum chemical model. Using the [2Fe-2S] accessory cluster of the FeFe-hydrogenase as a demonstrative example with rich electronic structural features, the electrostatic and covalent effects of the surrounding side chains, charged groups, and backbone moieties were systematically mapped through density functional theoretical calculations. Electron affinities, spin density differences, and delocalization indexes from the quantum theory of atoms in molecules were used to evaluate the importance of each interaction. Case studies for hydrogen bonding and charged side-chain interactions were used to develop selection rules regarding the significance of a given protein environmental effect. A set of general rules is proposed for constructing quantum chemical models for iron-sulfur active sites that capture all significant interactions from the protein environment. This methodology was applied to our previously used models in galactose oxidase and the 6Fe-cluster of FeFe-hydrogenase. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Computational SN 2-Type Mechanism for the Difluoromethylation of Lithium Enolate with Fluoroform through Bimetallic C-F Bond Dual Activation.

The reaction mechanism for difluoromethylation of lithium enolates with fluoroform was analyzed computationally (DFT calculations with the artificial force induced reaction (AFIR) method and solvation model based on density (SMD) solvation model (THF)), showing an SN 2-type carbon-carbon bond formation; the "bimetallic" lithium enolate and lithium trifluoromethyl carbenoid exert the C-F bond "dual" activation, in contrast to the monometallic butterfly-shaped carbenoid in the Simmons-Smith reaction. Lithium enolates, generated by the reaction of 2 equiv. of lithium hexamethyldisilazide (rather than 1 or 3 equiv.) with the cheap difluoromethylating species fluoroform, are the most useful alkali metal intermediates for the synthesis of pharmaceutically important α-difluoromethylated carbonyl products.

Ab initio density matrix renormalization group study of magnetic coupling in dinuclear iron and chromium complexes.

The applicability of ab initio multireference wavefunction-based methods to the study of magnetic complexes has been restricted by the quickly rising active-space requirements of oligonuclear systems and dinuclear complexes with S > 1 spin centers. Ab initio density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) methods built upon an efficient parameterization of the correlation network enable the use of much larger active spaces, and therefore may offer a way forward. Here, we apply DMRG-CASSCF to the dinuclear complexes [Fe2OCl6](2-) and [Cr2O(NH3)10](4+). After developing the methodology through systematic basis set and DMRG M testing, we explore the effects of extended active spaces that are beyond the limit of conventional methods. We find that DMRG-CASSCF with active spaces including the metal d orbitals, occupied bridging-ligand orbitals, and their virtual double shells already capture a major portion of the dynamic correlation effects, accurately reproducing the experimental magnetic coupling constant (J) of [Fe2OCl6](2-) with (16e,26o), and considerably improving the smaller active space results for [Cr2O(NH3)10](4+) with (12e,32o). For comparison, we perform conventional MRCI+Q calculations and find the J values to be consistent with those from DMRG-CASSCF. In contrast to previous studies, the higher spin states of the two systems show similar deviations from the Heisenberg spectrum, regardless of the computational method.

Iron-sulfur bond covalency from electronic structure calculations for classical iron-sulfur clusters.

The covalent character of iron-sulfur bonds is a fundamental electronic structural feature for understanding the electronic and magnetic properties and the reactivity of biological and biomimetic iron-sulfur clusters. Conceptually, bond covalency obtained from X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) can be directly related to orbital compositions from electronic structure calculations, providing a standard for evaluation of density functional theoretical methods. Typically, a combination of functional and basis set that optimally reproduces experimental bond covalency is chosen, but its dependence on the population analysis method is often neglected, despite its important role in deriving theoretical bond covalency. In this study of iron tetrathiolates, and classical [2Fe-2S] and [4Fe-4S] clusters with only thiolate ligands, we find that orbital compositions can vary significantly depending on whether they are derived from frontier orbitals, spin densities, or electron sharing indexes from "Átoms in Molecules" (ÁIM) theory. The benefits and limitations of Mulliken, Minimum Basis Set Mulliken, Natural, Coefficients-Squared, Hirshfeld, and AIM population analyses are described using ab initio wave function-based (QCISD) and experimental (S K-edge XAS) bond covalency. We find that the AIM theory coupled with a triple-ζ basis set and the hybrid functional B(5%HF)P86 gives the most reasonable electronic structure for the studied Fe-S clusters.

QM/MM structural and spectroscopic analysis of the di-iron(II) and di-iron(III) ferroxidase site in M ferritin.

Ferritins are cage-like proteins composed of 24 subunits that take up iron(II) and store it as an iron(III) oxide mineral core. A critical step is the ferroxidase reaction, in which oxygen reacts with a di-iron(II) site, proceeding through a peroxo intermediate, to form µ-oxo/hydroxo-bridged di-iron(III) products. The recent crystal structures of copper(II)- and iron(III)-bound frog M ferritin at 2.8 Å resolution [Bertini; et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 6169-6176] provided an opportunity to theoretically investigate the detailed structures of the reactant state and products. In this study, the quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical ONIOM method is used to structurally optimize a series of single-subunit models with various hydration, protonation, and coordination states of the ferroxidase site. Calculated exchange coupling constants (J), Mössbauer parameters, and time-dependent density functional theoretical (TD-DFT) circular dichroism spectra with electronic embedding are compared with the available experimental data. The di-iron(II) model with the most experimentally consistent structural and spectroscopic parameters has 5-coordinate iron centers with Glu23, Glu58, His61, and two waters completing one coordination sphere, and His54, Glu58, Glu103, and Asp140 completing the other. In contrast to a previously proposed structure, Gln137 is not directly coordinated, but it is involved in hydrogen bonding with several iron ligands. For the di-iron(III) products, we find that a µ-oxo-bridged and two doubly bridged (µ-hydroxo and µ-oxo/hydroxo) species are likely coproduced. Although four quadrupole doublets were observed experimentally, we find that two doublets may arise from a single asymmetrically coordinated ferroxidase site. These proposed key structures will help to explore the pathway connecting the di-Fe(II) state to the peroxo intermediate and the branching mechanisms leading to the multiple products.

Nitrogenase structure and function relationships by density functional theory.

Modern density functional theory has tremendous potential with matching popularity in metalloenzymology to reveal the unseen atomic and molecular details of structural data, spectroscopic measurements, and biochemical experiments by providing insights into unobservable structures and states, while also offering theoretical justifications for observed trends and differences. An often untapped potential of this theoretical approach is to bring together diverse experimental structural and reactivity information and allow for these to be critically evaluated at the same level. This is particularly applicable for the tantalizingly complex problem of the structure and molecular mechanism of biological nitrogen fixation. In this chapter we provide a review with extensive practical details of the compilation and evaluation of experimental data for an unbiased and systematic density functional theory analysis that can lead to remarkable new insights about the structure-function relationships of the iron-sulfur clusters of nitrogenase.

Comparative assessment of the composition and charge state of nitrogenase FeMo-cofactor.

A significant limitation in our understanding of the molecular mechanism of biological nitrogen fixation is the uncertain composition of the FeMo-cofactor (FeMo-co) of nitrogenase. In this study we present a systematic, density functional theory-based evaluation of spin-coupling schemes, iron oxidation states, ligand protonation states, and interstitial ligand composition using a wide range of experimental criteria. The employed functionals and basis sets were validated with molecular orbital information from X-ray absorption spectroscopic data of relevant iron-sulfur clusters. Independently from the employed level of theory, the electronic structure with the greatest number of antiferromagnetic interactions corresponds to the lowest energy state for a given charge and oxidation state distribution of the iron ions. The relative spin state energies of resting and oxidized FeMo-co already allowed exclusion of certain iron oxidation state distributions and interstitial ligand compositions. Geometry-optimized FeMo-co structures of several models further eliminated additional states and compositions, while reduction potentials indicated a strong preference for the most likely charge state of FeMo-co. Mössbauer and ENDOR parameter calculations were found to be remarkably dependent on the employed training set, density functional, and basis set. Overall, we found that a more oxidized [Mo(IV)-2Fe(II)-5Fe(III)-9S(2-)-C(4-)] composition with a hydroxyl-protonated homocitrate ligand satisfies all of the available experimental criteria and is thus favored over the currently preferred composition of [Mo(IV)-4Fe(II)-3Fe(III)-9S(2-)-N(3-)] from the literature.

Electronic structural investigations of ruthenium compounds and anticancer prodrugs.

Several Ru(III) compounds are propitious anticancer agents although the precise mechanisms of action remain unknown. With this paper we start to establish an experimental library of X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) data for ten Ru compounds wherein the ligands [Cl(-), dimethyl sulfoxide, imidazole, and indazole] were varied systematically to provide electronic structural information for future use in correlating spectroscopic signatures with chemical properties. Despite the considerable difference in the coordination environments of the complexes studied, the overall differences in spectral features and electronic structures calculated using density functional theory are unexpectedly small. However, the differences in the electronic structure of the Ru(III) prodrugs KP1019 ([IndH][trans-RuCl(4)(Ind)(2)], Ind is indazole) and ICR ([ImH][trans-RuCl(4)(Im)(2)], Im is imidazole) observed in the XAS data show correlation with known chemical and biological activities in addition to the donor abilities of imidazole compared with indazole and reduction potentials of the complexes. These semiquantitative results lay the groundwork for future biochemical studies into the structure-function relationships of Ru-based anticancer drugs.

Dithiomethylether as a ligand in the hydrogenase h-cluster.

An X-ray crystallographic refinement of the H-cluster of [FeFe]-hydrogenase from Clostridium pasteurianum has been carried out to close-to atomic resolution and is the highest resolution [FeFe]-hydrogenase presented to date. The 1.39 A, anisotropically refined [FeFe]-hydrogenase structure provides a basis for examining the outstanding issue of the composition of the unique nonprotein dithiolate ligand of the H-cluster. In addition to influencing the electronic structure of the H-cluster, the composition of the ligand has mechanistic implications due to the potential of the bridge-head gamma-group participating in proton transfer during catalysis. In this work, sequential density functional theory optimizations of the dithiolate ligand embedded in a 3.5-3.9 A protein environment provide an unbiased approach to examining the most likely composition of the ligand. Structural, conformational, and energetic considerations indicate a preference for dithiomethylether as an H-cluster ligand and strongly disfavor the dithiomethylammonium as a catalytic base for hydrogen production.