title: Carbon monoxide as intrinsic ligand to iron in the active site of [fe]-hydrogenase.
abstract: Structural and spectroscopic studies on [Fe]-hydrogenase revealed an active site mononuclear low spin iron coordinated by the Cys176 sulfur, two CO, and the sp(2) hybridized nitrogen of a 2-pyridinol compound with back bonding properties similar to those of cyanide. Thus, [Fe]-hydrogenases are endowed with an iron-ligation pattern related to that found in the active site of [NiFe]- and [FeFe]-hydrogenases although the three hydrogenases and the enzymes involved in their posttranslational maturation have evolved independently and although CO and cyanide ligands are not found in any other metallo-enzymes. Obviously, low-spin iron complexed with thiolate(s), CO, and cyanide or a cyanide functional analogue plays an essential role in H(2) activation.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Karl-von-Frisch-Strasse, D-35043 Marburg, Germany thauer@mpi-marburg.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Seigo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shima
authors.forename: Rudolf K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Thauer
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ermler