The Fe–V Cofactor of Vanadium Nitrogenase Contains an Interstitial Carbon Atom

• DOI: 10.1002/ange.201505930
• Publication Date: 2015-09-17T10:50:56Z
• Authors: Julian A. Rees; Ragnar Bjornsson; Julia Schlesier; Daniel Sippel; Oliver Einsle; Serena DeBeer
• Keywords: Azotobacter vinelandii; Vanadium carbide

Abstract The first direct evidence is provided for the presence of an interstitial carbide in FeV cofactor Azotobacter vinelandii vanadium nitrogenase. As our identification central FeMo cofactor, we employed Fe Kβ valence‐to‐core X‐ray emission spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations, herein report highly similar spectra both variants cofactor‐containing protein. analogous carbide, thus atomically homologous active site nitrogenase, highlights importance influence identity heteroatom on electronic structure catalytic activity enzyme.