DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/KSGM-6M48
Defense Date
2009
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Chemistry
First Advisor
James Terner
Abstract
Spectroscopic characterization of ferric soybean peroxidase with peroxides were studied to determine the ligand coordination and to characterize the structure of the heme active site and its intermediates (ferryl species). The lifetime, chemical reactivity and distinctive colors of the ferryl species (FeIV) formed during the oxidation of peroxidase (FeIII) by peroxides enabled structure, dynamics and reaction mechanisms to be studied. Resonance Raman spectroscopy was used as a means of characterizing the structure of the soybean peroxidase and its intermediates. Excitation in the Soret absorption band at 406.7nm with 2-5mW laser power was used for this study. Resonance Raman spectra in the 200 to 1700 cm-1 region were obtained for the soybean peroxidase. However, the focus of this study was on the vibrational region of the resonance Raman spectra from 900 to 500cm-1 where the FeIV=O stretching frequencies for heme compound II intermediates are expected. Several pH and pD (deuterium substitution) samples of the soybean peroxidase were analyzed using resonance Raman spectroscopy. The vibrational stretching frequencies of the ferryl peroxidases varied with varying pH/pD were observed within the 773–787cm-1 range. From the deuterium experiment, accompanied with changes in the vibrational frequencies of the iron-ligand, a 3cm-1 upshift and intense resonant enhancement of the peaks, we observed the ferryl nature of compound II intermediate for soybean peroxidase. Badger’s rule was used to estimate the bond distances that existed within Fe-O which offers additional insight into the structure of the ferryl species. The estimated bond distance for the soybean peroxidase was significantly less than Fe-O bond distances proposed by X-ray crystallographers for other peroxidases in the same family. Comparing the vibrational frequencies of the ferryl intermediates in soybean peroxidase to that in heme proteins portrayed the effect the protein environment has on the vibrational frequencies.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
August 2009