Stereoselective Electron-Transfer Reactions of Myoglobin and Cytochrome c with Chiral Viologen-Radical Cations

Electron-transfer (ET) reactions of metmyoglobin (metMb) and the oxidized form of cytochrome c (cyt c(III)) with chiral viologen-radical cations containing (1-phenyl- and 1-cyclohexylethyl)carbamoylmethyl groups were examined at pH 7.0 (10 mM phosphate buffer), ionic strengths (I) of 0.040–0.50 M, and temperatures of 10–35 °C. In the metMb system, the pseudo first-order rate constant of the decay of the viologen-radical cation was saturated with increasing concentrations of metMb, indicating that metMb interacts with the viologen-radical cation to form a complex followed by an intramolecular ET reaction. The stereoselectivity was observed in both the complex formation and the intramolecular ET processes for the (S,S)-isomers of chiral viologens. The ratios of the association constants and the intramolecular ET rate constants of the (S,S)-isomer with those of the (R,R)-isomer were 1.1–1.3 and 1.1–1.5, respectively. The saturation kinetics was not observed for the ET reaction between metMb and the achiral benzylviologen-radical cation, which has no CONH bond, suggesting that the hydrogen bonding of the CONH group of the chiral viologen with the side chain of the polypeptide in metMb plays an important role in the stereoselectivity. No appreciable complex formation was observed in the ET reaction between cyt c(III) and viologen-radical cations, although the stereoselectivity was observed. The ratios of the second-order rate constants of the (S,S)-isomer with those of the (R,R)-isomer were 1.1–1.4. The stereoselectivity is discussed based on the activation parameters.