ENDOR/HYSCORE studies of the common intermediate trapped during nitrogenase reduction of N2H2, CH3N2H, and N2H4 support an alternating reaction pathway for N2 reduction.

ABSTRACT: Enzymatic N(2) reduction proceeds along a reaction pathway composed of a sequence of intermediate states generated as a dinitrogen bound to the active-site iron-molybdenum cofactor (FeMo-co) of the nitrogenase MoFe protein undergoes six steps of hydrogenation (e(-)/H(+) delivery). There are two competing proposals for the reaction pathway, and they invoke different intermediates. In the 'Distal' (D) pathway, a single N of N(2) is hydrogenated in three steps until the first NH(3) is liberated, and then the remaining nitrido-N is hydrogenated three more times to yield the second NH(3). In the 'Alternating' (A) pathway, the two N's instead are hydrogenated alternately, with a hydrazine-bound intermediate formed after four steps of hydrogenation and the first NH(3) liberated only during the fi

SUBMITTER: Lukoyanov D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3156091 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature