Structure and properties of a synthetic analogue of bacterial iron--sulfur proteins.

The compound (Et(4)N)(2)[Fe(4)S(4)(SCH(2)Ph)(4)] has been prepared and its structure determined by x-ray diffraction. The Fe(4)S(4) core of the anion possesses a configuration of D(2d) symmetry that is closely related to the Fe(4)S(4) active-site structures of the high-potential iron protein from Chromatium and the ferredoxin from Micrococcus aerogenes. Electronic properties of the tetrameric anion have been partially characterized by measurement of proton magnetic resonance, Mössbauer, photoelectron, and electronic spectra, and magnetic susceptibility. Comparison of corresponding properties of Fe(4)S(4)(SCH(2)Ph)(4) and the proteins implies that the oxidation levels of the synthetic tetramer, the reduced form of the high-potential protein, and the oxidized form of the 8-Fe ferredoxins are equivalent. The tetramer possesses the one-electron redox capacity associated with the 4-Fe centers of the ferredoxins. The structural and collective electronic features of Fe(4)S(4)(SCH(2)Ph)(4) reveal it to be the first well-defined synthetic analogue of the active site of an iron-sulfur protein.