PNNL

Abstract

Nitrogenase catalyzes the reduction of dinitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) with obligatory reduction of protons (H+) to dihydrogen (H2) through a mechanism involving reductive elimination of two [Fe-H-Fe] bridging hydrides at its active site FeMo-cofactor. The overall rate-limiting step is associated with ATP-driven electron delivery from Fe protein, precluding isotope effect measurements on substrate reduction steps. Here, we use mediated bioelectrocatalysis to drive electron delivery to MoFe protein without Fe protein and ATP hydrolysis, thereby eliminating the normal rate-limiting step. The ratio of catalytic current in mixtures of H2O and D2O, the proton inventory, changes linearly with the D2O/H2O ratio, revealing that a single H/D is involved in the rate limiting step. Kinetic models, along with measurements that vary the electron/proton delivery rate and use different substrates, reveal that the rate-limiting step under these conditions is the H2 formation reaction. Altering the chemical environment around the active site FeMo-cofactor in the MoFe protein either by substituting nearby amino acids or transferring the isolated FeMo-cofactor into a different peptide matrix, changes the net isotope effect, but the proton inventory plot remains linear, consistent with an unchanging rate-limiting step. Density functional theory predicts a transition state for H2 formation where the proton from S-H+ moves to the hydride in Fe-H-, predicting the number and magnitude of the observed H/D isotope effect. This study not only reveals the mechanism of H2 formation, but also illustrates a strategy for mechanistic study that can be applied to other enzymes and to biomimetic complexes.