Electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of some vitamin B 12 derivatives

Bringing inorganic chemistry to life with inspiration from R. J. P. Williams

Our appreciation of the scholarly ideas and thinking of Bob Williams is illustrated here by a few of the areas in which he inspired us. His journey to bring inorganic chemistry to life began with an early interest in analytical chemistry, rationalising the relative stabilities of metal coordination complexes (The Irving-Williams Series), and elucidating the organometallic redox chemistry of vitamin B12. He (and Vallee) recognised that metal ions are in energised (entatic) states in proteins and enzymes, which themselves are dynamic structures of rods and springs. He played a key role in helping Rosenberg to pave the road toward the clinic for the anticancer drug cisplatin. He believed that evolution is not just dependent on DNA, but also on the metallome. Organisms and the environment are one system: does DNA code directly for all the essential elements of life?

Electron-paramagnetic-resonance studies on cobalt(II) carbonic anhydrase. Low-spin cyanide complexes

The low-spin cyanide complexes of three Co(II) carbonic anhydrases were investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (e.p.r.) at 9 and 35GHz. Well-defined and closely axial spectra were obtained only in the absence of oxygen. Several mole equivalents of cyanide were required for complete formation of the complexes in frozen solution, although large excesses caused abstraction of the cobalt. Experiments with [(13)C]cyanide showed that the low-spin complexes contained two CN(-) groups in an environment similar to that of the in-plane ligands in [Co(CN)(5)](3-). A combined e.p.r. and spectrophotometric titration confirmed the presence of two CN(-) ligands. A 5-co-ordinate square pyramidal structure involving three protein ligands was proposed. The dicyanide complex could be oxygenated reversibly, producing a characteristic new e.p.r. spectrum. The O(2) molecule was thought to occupy the remaining octahedral metal site in a formally Co(III) species. The optical spectrum of the dicyanide lacked the prominent d-d bands of the high-spin monocyanide. Both e.p.r. and optical data indicated that the low-spin complex was formed much more fully in frozen solution than at room temperature. Differences in behaviour between the high- and low-activity enzymes suggested some variation in conformational flexibility at the metal binding site.