Electron Bifurcation: Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Two-Electron Brokering in Biological Redox Chemistry
How can proteins drive two electrons from a redox active donor onto two acceptors at very different potentials and distances? And how can this transaction be conducted without dissipating very much energy or violating the laws of thermodynamics? Nature appears to have addressed these challenges by coupling thermodynamically uphill and downhill electron transfer reactions, using two-electron donor cofactors that have very different potentials for the removal of the first and second electron. Although electron bifurcation is carried out with near perfection from the standpoint of energy conservation and electron delivery yields, it is a biological energy transduction paradigm that has only come into focus recently. This Account provides an exegesis of the biophysical principles that underpin electron bifurcation.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Biological Electron Transfer and Catalysis (BETCy)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1394742
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-2700-68936
- Journal Information:
- Accounts of Chemical Research, Vol. 50, Issue 9; ISSN 0001-4842
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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