Presidential Young Investigator Award/Role of Metal Ions in Enzyme Action

这位来自无机物的总统青年研究者奖， 生物无机和有机化学计划将支持 生物学相关无机化学研究。 的 该项目的重点将是阐明 金属离子在重要的生物转化中的作用 的 特别感兴趣的是过渡金属的参与 离子在终端步骤的还原分子氧， 细胞色素氧化酶和氧的释放 光合器 金属的小分子类似物 这些和其他金属蛋白的中心，特别是 含锰蛋白质，将被合成， 表征了 采取的总体战略将涉及 有机配体的设计与合成、制备与 纯化它们与过渡金属的络合物，和 通过各种方法对这些系统进行彻底的表征， 结构、磁性和光谱技术。 在 除了上面提到的系统之外， 包括磁耦合的西罗血红素和铁-硫 亚硫酸盐还原酶中的簇，以及镍的参与 氢化酶和甲烷生成活性。 最后，角色 低价钒在催化 将探索将二氮转化为氨和肼的方法。 比较了它们的光谱和化学性质， 模型化合物有望产生有价值的洞察力， 模拟生物系统的详细工作原理。

This Presidential Young Investigator Award from the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry Program will support research in biologically relevant inorganic chemistry. The emphasis of the project will be the elucidation of the role of metal ions in important biological transformations. Of particular interest is the participation of transition metal ions in the terminal steps of the reduction of dioxygen by cytochrome oxidase and the evolution of oxygen by the photosynthetic apparatus. Small molecule analogs of the metal centers of these and other metalloproteins, especially manganese-containing proteins, will be synthesized and characterized. The general strategy to be taken will involve the design and synthesis of organic ligands, preparation and purification of their complexes with transition metals, and thorough characterization of such systems by a variety of structural, magnetic, and spectroscopic techniques. In addition to the systems mentioned above, others of interest include the magnetically-coupled siroheme and iron-sulfur cluster in sulfite reductase, and the participation of nickel in hydrogenase and methanogenesis activity. Finally, the role of low valent vanadium in catalyzing the conversion of dinitrogen to ammonia and hydrazxine will be explored. Comparison of the spectroscopic and chemical properties of the model compounds is expected to yield valuable insight into the detailed workings of the modeled biological systems.