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futurity_sci_tech 00828.txt

#To make hydrogen, start with strange chemistry Stanford university University of California Davis rightoriginal Studyposted by Andy Fell-UC Davis on October 30 2013bacteria have been making hydrogen for billions of years and now scientists are using radical chemistry in an effort to make hydrogen too. In a study published in the journal Science chemists describe a key step in assembling a hydrogen-generating catalyst. t s pretty interesting that bacteria can do thissays David Britt professor of chemistry at University of California Davis and co-author on the paper. e want to know how nature builds these catalystsâ##from a chemist s perspective these are really strange things. he bacterial catalysts are organized based on precisely clusters of iron and sulfur atoms with side groups of cyanide and carbon monoxide. Those molecules are highly toxic unless properly controlled Britt notes. The cyanide and carbon monoxide groups were known to come from the amino acid tyrosine Britt says. Jon Kuchenreuther a postdoctoral researcher in Britt s laboratory used a technique called electron paramagnetic resonance to study the structure of the intermediate steps. They found a series of chemical reactions involving a type of highly reactive enzyme called a radical SAM enzyme. The tyrosine is attached to a cluster of four iron atoms and four sulfur atoms then cut loose leaving the cyanide and carbon monoxide groups behind. eople think of radicals as dangerous but this enzyme directs the radical chemistry along with the production of normally poisonous CO and CN along safe and productive pathwaysbritt says. Kuchenreuther Britt and colleagues also used another techniqueâ##Fourier Transform Infraredâ##to study how the iron-cyanide-carbon monoxide complex is formed. That work will be published separately. ogether these results show how to make this interesting two-cluster enzymebritt says. his is unique new chemistry. ames Swartz professor of chemical engineering and bioengineering at Stanford university contribute to the work which was supported by grants from the US Department of energy. Source: UC Davisyou are free to share this article under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noderivs 3. 0 Unported license

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