Low-frequency EPR of ferrimyoglobin fluoride and ferrimyoglobin cyanide: a case study on the applicability of broadband analysis to high-spin hemoproteins and to HALS hemoproteins

Broadband EPR Spectroscopy of the Triplet State: Multi-Frequency Analysis of Copper Acetate Monohydrate

Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy is a long-standing method for the exploration of electronic structures of transition ion complexes. The difficulty of its analysis varies considerably, not only with the nature of the spin system, but more so with the relative magnitudes of the magnetic interactions to which the spin is subject, where particularly challenging cases ensue when two interactions are of comparable magnitude. A case in point is the triplet system S = 1 of coordination complexes with two unpaired electrons when the electronic Zeeman interaction and the electronic zero-field interaction are similar in strength. This situation occurs in the X-band spectra of the thermally excited triplet state of dinuclear copper(II) complexes, exemplified by copper acetate monohydrate. In this study, applicability of the recently developed low-frequency broadband EPR spectrometer to S = 1 systems is investigated on the analysis of multi-frequency, 0.5-16 GHz, data from [Cu(CH3COO)2H2O]2. Global fitting affords the spin Hamiltonian parameters gz = 2.365 ± 0.008; gy = 2.055 ± 0.010; gx = 2.077 ± 0.005; Az = 64 gauss; D = 0.335 ± 0.002 cm-1; E = 0.0105 ± 0.0003 cm-1. The latter two define zero-field absorptions at ca. 630, 7730, and 10,360 MHz, which show up in the spectra as one half of a sharpened symmetrical line. Overall, the EPR line shape is Lorentzian, reflecting spin-lattice relaxation, which is a combination of an unusual, essentially temperature-independent, inverted Orbach process via the S = 0 ground state, and a Raman process proportional to T2. Other broadening mechanisms are limited to at best minor contributions from a distribution in E values, and from dipolar interaction with neighboring copper pairs. Monitoring of a first-order double-quantum transition between 8 and 35 GHz shows a previously unnoticed very complex line shape behavior, which should be the subject of future research.

A Comparative Multi-Frequency EPR Study of Dipolar Interaction in Tetra-Heme Cytochromes

Distances between Fe ions in multiheme cytochromes are sufficiently short to make the intramolecular dipole-dipole interaction between hemes probable. In the analysis of EPR data from cytochromes, this interaction has thus far been ignored under the assumption that spectra are the simple sum of non-interacting components. Here, we use a recently developed low-frequency broadband EPR spectrometer to establish the extent of dipolar interaction in the example cytochromes, characterize its spectral signatures, and identify present limitations in the analysis. Broadband EPR spectra of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 small tetraheme cytochrome (STC) have been collected over the frequency range of 0.45 to 13.11 GHz, and they have been compared to similar data from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough cytochrome c3. The two cases are representative examples of two very different heme topologies and corresponding electron-transfer properties in tetraheme proteins. While in cytochrome c3, the six Fe-Fe distances can be sorted into two well-separated groups, those in STC are diffuse. Since the onset of dipolar interaction between Fe-Fe pairs is already observed in the X-band, the g values are determined in the simulation of the 13.11 GHz spectrum. Low-frequency spectra are analyzed with the inclusion of dipolar interaction based on available structural data on mutual distances and orientations between all hemes. In this procedure, all 24 possible assignments of individual heme spectra to heme topologies are sampled. The 24 configurations can be reduced to a few, but inspection falls short of a unique assignment, due to a remaining lack of understanding of the fine details of these complex spectra. In general, the EPR analysis suggests the four-heme system in c3 to be more rigid than that in STC, which is proposed to be related to different physiological roles in electron transfer.

Conversion of a Single-Frequency X-Band EPR Spectrometer into a Broadband Multi-Frequency 0.1-18 GHz Instrument for Analysis of Complex Molecular Spin Hamiltonians

A broadband EPR spectrometer is an instrument that can be tuned to many microwave frequencies over several octaves. Its purpose is the collection of multi-frequency data, whose global analysis affords interpretation of complex spectra by means of deconvolution of frequency-dependent and frequency-independent interaction terms. Such spectra are commonly encountered, for example, from transition-metal complexes and metalloproteins. In a series of previous papers, I have described the development of broadband EPR spectrometers around a vector network analyzer. The present study reports on my endeavor to start from an existing X-band spectrometer and to reversibly re-build it into a broadband machine, in a quest to drastically reduce design effort, building costs, and operational complexity, thus bringing broadband EPR within easy reach of a wide range of researchers.