Flavodiiron proteins (FDPs) play important roles in the microbial nitrosative stress response in low-oxygen environments by reductively scavenging nitric oxide (NO). Recently, we showed that FMN-free diferrous FDP from Thermotoga maritima exposed to 1 equiv NO forms a stable diiron-mononitrosyl complex (deflavo-FDP(NO)) that can react further with NO to form N2O [Hayashi, T.; Caranto, J. D.; Wampler, D. A.; Kurtz, D. M., Jr.; Moënne-Loccoz, P. Biochemistry
2010, 49, 7040–7049]. Here we report resonance Raman and low-temperature photolysis FTIR data that better define the structure of this diiron-mononitrosyl complex. We first validate this approach using the stable diiron-mononitrosyl complex of hemerythrin, Hr(NO), for which we observe a ν(NO) at 1658 cm−1, the lowest ν(NO) ever reported for a nonheme {FeNO}7 species. Both deflavo-FDP(NO) and the mononitrosyl adduct of the flavinated FPD (FDP(NO)) show ν(NO) at 1681 cm−1, which is also unusually low. These results indicate that, in Hr(NO) and FDP(NO), the coordinated NO is exceptionally electron rich, more closely approaching the Fe(III)(NO−) resonance structure. In the case of Hr(NO), this polarization may be promoted by steric enforcement of an unusually small FeNO angle, while in FDP(NO), the Fe(III)(NO−) structure may be due to a semi-bridging electrostatic interaction with the second Fe(II) ion. In Hr(NO), accessibility and steric constraints prevent further reaction of the diiron-mononitrosyl complex with NO, whereas in FDP(NO) the increased nucleophilicity of the nitrosyl group may promote attack by a second NO to produce N2O. This latter scenario is supported by theoretical modeling [Blomberg, L. M.; Blomberg, M. R.; Siegbahn, P. E. J. Biol. Inorg. Chem.
2007, 12, 79–89]. Published vibrational data on bioengineered models of denitrifying heme-nonheme NO reductases[Hayashi, T.; Miner, K. D.; Yeung, N.; Lin, Y.-W.; Lu, Y.; Moënne-Loccoz, P. Biochemistry
2011, 50, 5939–5947] support a similar mode of activation of a heme {FeNO}7 species by the nearby nonheme Fe(II).