Tryptophan oxidation mediated via the heme was initiated by adding 2, 6, and 20 equivalents of H20, to 5 p,M recombinant CCP (CCP(M1)) and its W5 IF and W191F mutants at pH 7.0. Addition of the proteins to 8 M urea (pH 1.5) relieved heme quenching of Trp fluorescence. CCP(M1)-I, W5 1F-I, and W 191F-I, the two-electron oxidized species (F~'~=O,R'+) formed on addition of 2 equivalents of H,02, exhibited decreased fluorescence relative to the ~e " ' forms. Loss of 0.7 Trp in CCP(M1)-I and W5 1F-I, and 0.2 Trp in W 191F-I implies that R" is located on Trpl91 in CCP(M1)-I and W5 IF-I. Spontaneous decay of the F~"=o hemes back to ~e " ' , followed by reaction with 2 more equivalents of H202 after 24 h, resulted in a combined loss of 2.7 (CCP(MI)), 1.5 (W51F), and -1 (W191F) Trp. Also, addition of 6 equivalents of H202 to the resting ~e " ' enzymes resulted in loss of -2 Trps in CCP(M1) but only -1 in W51F and W 191F, suggesting that Trp51 becomes redox active in CCP(M1) when >2 equivalents of H202 are reduced. Addition of 20 equivalents of H202 resulted in a total loss of -4,2.5, and 2 Trp in CCP(MI), W51F, and W 191F, respectively. Activity loss largely paralleled Trp loss, and the residual activity of CCP(M1) and W5 lFexposed to 20 equivalents of H202 was 5-19%, while W191F exhibited -50% activity. SDS PAGE analysis revealed that oxidized CCP(M1) and W191F were 60-70% monomeric, and W51F 27% monomeric following its reaction with >2 equivalents H202. Amino acid analyses confirmed Trp loss and also showed significant Tyr, but not Met, loss in the oxidized proteins. Donors to the heme and pathways of electron migration are proposed based on the combined results.