Electronic structure contributions to electron transfer in blue Cu and Cu(A)

The experimentally determined electronic structures of mononuclear blue Cu and binuclear Cu(A) centers are summarized and their relation to intra- and inter-protein electron transfer (ET) kinetics are described. Specific contributions of the electronic structures of these two broad classes of Cu ET proteins to H(AB), lambda, and deltaE degrees are discussed. Also, the role of the protein structure in determining key geometric features which define the electronic structures of the metal sites in these proteins is considered.