Transcript Nitrogenase - Bryn Mawr College

The miracle of N2ase:
How does it do it?
:N
N:
N2 bond energy = 945 kJ/mol!!!!
N2 + 8H+ + 8 e- + 16 MgATP  2 NH3 + H2 + 16 MgADP + 16 Pi
Root nodules
formed
by
Rhizobium bacteria
living symbiotically
through
nitrogen fixation.
N2 + 8H+ + 8 e- + 16 MgATP  2 NH3 + H2 + 16 MgADP + 16 Pi
EPR used to monitor S= 3/2 signal under a variety of conditions
FeMo protein (FeMoco site)
Fe protein
Big Mystery:
What is this atom???
P-cluster
Oxidized state
Reduced state
Strange Sulfur:
CN= 6:
Creates flexibility for Fe’s?
http://www2.pt.tu-clausthal.de/atp/projects/nitro.html
Nitrogen Binding to the FeMo cofactor of Nitrogenase,
Johannes Schimpl, Helena M. Petrilli, and P.E. Blöchl, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125, 15772-15778 (2003),
TU Clausthal Institute of Theoretical Physics Department of Applied Theoretical Physics