The reactions of hydropersulfides (RSSH) with myoglobin.

Hydropersulfides are reported to be good biological reductants, superior to thiols and akin to selenols. As such, they have been previously shown to reduce metalloproteins such as ferric myoglobin and ferric cytochrome c to their ferrous forms under conditions where little or no reduction from corresponding thiols is observed. Not surprisingly, the reduction of ferric myoglobin to ferrous myoglobin under aerobic conditions results in the generation of oxymyoglobin (dioxygen bound ferrous myoglobin). Previous studies have demonstrated that oxymyoglobin can also act as an oxidant with highly reducing species such as hydroxylamine and ascorbate. Considering the reducing properties of hydropersulfides, it is possible that they can also react with oxymyoglobin similarly to hydroxylamine or ascorbate. Herein, this reaction is examined and indeed hydropersulfides are found to react with oxymyoglobin similarly to other reducing species leading to a fleeting ferric myoglobin which is rapidly reduced to the ferrous form also by hydropersulfide.

Photoinduced Terminal Hydride of [FeFe]-Hydrogenase Biomimetic Complexes.

The active site of the [FeFe]-hydrogenase ([FeFe]-H2ase) has a bridging carbonyl ligand and a terminal hydride in the key H-cluster intermediate Hhyd. However, nearly all of the synthetic mimics reported, so far, prefer a hydride bridging the two irons, and only few mimics with a terminal hydride were achieved by tuning the steric effects of bulky diphosphine ligands. Moreover, although intermediates with either a terminal hydride or a protonated bridging thiolate ligand were proposed to exist during protonation processes or hydrogen exchange in the [FeFe]-H2ase mimic, [Fe2(µ-pdt)(µ-H)(CO)4(PMe3)2]+ (1H+), only bridging hydrides were observed by time-resolved IR spectroscopy. In this report, FTIR spectroscopy of 1H+, under CO with longer irradiation time, revealed several new photoinduced species. In addition to the CO loss species, many of the photoinduced products can be assigned to 1H+ with a terminal hydride by comparison of their CO vibrational frequencies with density functional theory calculations.

Flash and continuous photolysis kinetic studies of the iron-iron hydrogenase model (µ-pdt)[Fe(CO)3]2 in different solvents.

Flash and continuous photolysis studies of (µ-pdt)[Fe(CO)(3)](2) under excess CO were conducted in coordinating and noncoordinating solvents. The back-reaction of CO with the photoproduct showed second-order kinetics with k(CO) values of 1.0 × 10(8), 3.4 × 10(6), 1.2 × 10(6), and 0.90 M(-1) s(-1) in hexanes, benzene, toluene, and THF, respectively. These data indicate a solvent-coordinated intermediate as one photoproduct, but other long-lived species were also apparent.

The chemical biology of hydrogen sulfide and related hydropersulfides: interactions with biologically relevant metals and metalloproteins.

Hydrogen sulfide and related/derived persulfides (RSnH, RSSnR, n > 1) have been the subject of recent research interest because of their reported physiological signaling roles. In spite of their described actions, the chemical/biochemical mechanisms of activity have not been established. From a chemical perspective, it is likely that metals and metalloproteins are possible biological targets for the actions of these species. Thus, the chemical biology of hydrogen sulfide and persulfides with metals and metalloproteins will be discussed as a prelude to future speculation regarding their physiological function and utility.

Isolation of a novel chromium(III) binding protein from bovine liver tissue after chromium(VI) exposure.

In the ongoing investigation into the biological importance and toxicity issues surrounding the bioinorganic chemistry of chromium, the accepted literature procedure for the isolation of the biological form of chromium, low molecular weight chromium binding protein (LMWCr) or chromodulin, was investigated for its specificity. When chromium(VI) is added to bovine liver homogenate, results presented here indicate at least four chromium(III) binding peptides and proteins are produced and that the process is non-specific for the isolation of LMWCr. A novel trivalent chromium containing protein (1) has been isolated to purity and initial characterization is reported here. Chromium(III) identification was determined by optical spectroscopy and diphenylcarbazide testing. This chromium binding protein has a molecular weight of 15.6kDa, which was determined from both gel-electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. The protein is comprised primarily of Asx, Glx, His, Gly/Thr, Ala, and Lys in a 1.00:2.51:0.37:2.09:0.39:1.17 ratio and is anionic at pH 7.4. In addition, the protein binds approximately 2.5 chromium(III) ions per molecule.

Photochemical nitric oxide precursors: synthesis, photochemistry, and ligand substitution kinetics of ruthenium salen nitrosyl and ruthenium salophen nitrosyl complexes.

Described are syntheses, characterizations, and photochemical reactions of the nitrosyl complexes Ru(salen)(ONO)(NO) (I, salen = N,N'-ethylenebis(salicylideneiminato) dianion), Ru(salen)(Cl)(NO) (II), Ru((t)Bu(4)salen)(Cl)(NO) (III,(t)Bu(4)salen = N,N'-ethylenebis(3,5-di-tert-butylsalicylideneiminato) dianion), Ru((t)Bu(4)salen)(ONO)(NO) (IV), Ru((t)Bu(2)salophen)(Cl)(NO) (V, (t)Bu(2)salophen = N,N'-1,2-phenylenediaminebis(3-tert-butylsalicylideneiminato) dianion), and Ru((t)Bu(4)salophen)(Cl)(NO) (VI, (t)Bu(4)salophen = N,N'-1,2-phenylenebis(3,5-di-tert-butylsalicylideneiminato) dianion). Upon photolysis, these Ru(L)(X)(NO) compounds undergo NO dissociation to give the ruthenium(III) solvento products Ru(L)(X)(Sol). Quantum yields for 365 nm irradiation in acetonitrile solution fall in a fairly narrow range (0.055-0.13) but decreased at longer lambda(irr). The quantum yield (lambda(irr) = 365 nm) for NO release from the water soluble complex [Ru(salen)(H(2)O)(NO)]Cl (VII) was 0.005 in water. Kinetics of thermal back-reactions to re-form the nitrosyl complexes demonstrated strong solvent dependence with second-order rate constants k(NO) varying from 5 x 10(-4) M(-1) s(-1) for the re-formation of II in acetonitrile to 5 x 10(8) M(-1) s(-1) for re-formation of III in cyclohexane. Pressure and temperature effects on the back-reaction rates were also examined. These results are relevant to possible applications of photochemistry for nitric oxide delivery to biological targets, to the mechanisms by which NO reacts with metal centers to form metal-nitrosyl bonds, and to the role of photochemistry in activating similar compounds as catalysts for several organic transformations. Also described are the X-ray crystal structures of I and V.

Reactions of nitrogen oxides with heme models. Characterization of NO and NO2 dissociation from Fe(TPP)(NO2)(NO) by flash photolysis and rapid dilution techniques: Fe(TPP)(NO2) as an unstable intermediate.

Described are studies directed toward elucidating the controversial chemistry relating to the solution phase reactions of nitric oxide with the iron(II) porphyrin complex Fe(TPP)(NO) (1, TPP = meso-tetraphenylporphinato2-). The only reaction observable with clean NO is the formation of the diamagnetic dinitrosyl species Fe(TPP)(NO)2 (2), and this is seen only at low temperatures (K(1) < 3 M(-1) at ambient temperature). However, 1 does readily react reversibly with N2O3 in the presence of excess NO to give the nitro nitrosyl complex Fe(TPP)(NO2)(NO) (3), suggesting that previous claims that 1 promotes NO disproportionation to give 3 may have been compromised by traces of air in the nitric oxide sources. It is also noted that 3 undergoes reversible loss of NO to give the elusive nitro species Fe(TPP)(NO2) (4), which has been implicated as a powerful oxygen atom transfer agent in reactions with various substrates. Furthermore, in the presence of excess NO2, the latter undergoes oxidation to the stable nitrato analogue Fe(TPP)(NO3) (5). Owing to such reactivity of Fe(TPP)(NO2), flash photolysis and stopped-flow kinetics rather than static techniques were necessary for the accurate measurement of dissociation equilibria characteristic of Fe(TPP)(NO2)(NO) in 298 K toluene solution. Flash photolysis of 3 resulted in competitive NO2 and NO dissociation to give Fe(TPP)(NO) and Fe(TPP)(NO2), respectively. The rate constant for the reaction of 1 with N2O3 to generate Fe(TPP)(NO2)(NO) was determined to be 1.8 x 10(6) M(-1) s(-1), and that for the NO reaction with 4 was similarly determined to be 4.2 x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1). Stopped-flow rapid dilution techniques were used to determine the rate constant for NO dissociation from 3 as 2.6 s(-1). The rapid dilution experiments also demonstrated that Fe(TPP)(NO2) readily undergoes further oxidation to give Fe(TPP)(NO3). The mechanistic implications of these observations are discussed, and it is suggested that NO2 liberated spontaneously from Fe(P)(NO2) may play a role in an important oxidative process involving this elusive species.