Biomolecules have significant impacts on the fate and transport of contaminant metals in soils and natural waters. Siderophores, Fe(iii)-binding agents that are exuded by microbes and plants, may form strong complexes with and promote the dissolution of contaminant metal ions, such as Co(iii), U(iv), or Pu(iv). Although aqueous Cr(iii)-siderophore complexes have been recognized in the laboratory setting for almost 40 years, few studies have explored interactions of siderophores with Cr-bearing minerals or considered their impacts on environmental chemistry. To better understand the possible effects of siderophores on chromium mobility, we conducted a series of dissolution experiments to quantify the dissolution rates of Cr(iii)(OH)3 in the presence of hydroxamate, catecholate, and α-hydroxycarboxylate siderophores over a range of environmentally relevant pH values. At pH = 5, dissolution rates in the presence of siderophores are similar to control experiments, suggesting a predominantly proton-promoted dissolution mechanism. At pH = 8, the sorption of the siderophores desferrioxamine B and rhizoferrin can be modeled by using Langmuir isotherms. The dissolution rates for these siderophores are proportional to the surface concentrations of sorbed siderophore, and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra of dissolution products indicates the formation of Cr(iii)HDFOB(+) and Cr(iii)rhizoferrin(3-) complexes, suggesting a ligand-promoted dissolution mechanism at alkaline pH. Because siderophores promote Cr(iii)(OH)3 dissolution at rates similar in magnitude to those of iron hydroxides and the resulting Cr(iii)-siderophore complexes may be persistent in solution, siderophores could potentially contribute to the mobilization of Cr in soils and sediments where it is abundant due to geological or anthropogenic sources.

Siderophores, a class of biogenic ligands with high affinities for Fe(III), promote the dissolution of metal ions from sparingly soluble mineral phases. However, most geochemical studies have focused on quantifying the reactivity of DFOB, a model trishydroxamate siderophore. This study utilized three different siderophores, desferrioxamine B, rhizoferrin, and protochelin, with structures that contain the most commonly observed binding moieties of microbial siderophores to examine the siderophore-promoted dissolution rates of FeOOH, CoOOH, and MnOOH in the absence and presence of the ubiquitous low molecular mass organic acid oxalate by utilizing batch dissolution experiments at pH = 5-9. Metal-siderophore complex and total dissolved metal concentrations were monitored for durations of one hour to fourteen days, depending on the metal oxyhydroxide identity and solution pH. The results demonstrate that MnOOH and CoOOH generally dissolve more quickly in the presence of siderophores than FeOOH. Whereas FeOOH dissolved exclusively by a ligand-promoted dissolution mechanism, MnOOH and CoOOH dissolved predominantly by a reductive dissolution mechanism under most experimental conditions. For FeOOH, siderophore-promoted dissolution rates trended with the stability constant of the corresponding aqueous Fe(III) complex. In the presence of oxalate, measured siderophore-promoted dissolution rates were found to increase, decrease, or remain unchanged as compared to the observed rates in single-ligand systems, depending on the pH of the system, the siderophore present, and the identity of the metal oxyhydroxide. Increases in observed dissolution rates in the presence of oxalate were generally greater for FeOOH than for MnOOH or CoOOH. These results elucidate potential dissolution mechanisms of both ferric and non-ferric oxyhydroxide minerals by siderophores in the environment, and may provide further insights into the biological strategies of metal acquisition facilitated by coordinated exudation of low molecular weight organic acids and siderophores.

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