Proton-coupled electron transfer of cytochrome c

Cytochrome c (Cyt-c) was electrostatically bound to self-assembled monolayers (SAM) on an Ag electrode, which are formed by omega-carboxyl alkanethiols of different chain lengths (C(x)). The dynamics of the electron-transfer (ET) reaction of the adsorbed heme protein, initiated by a rapid potential jump to the redox potential, was monitored by time-resolved surface enhanced resonance Raman (SERR) spectroscopy. Under conditions of the present experiments, only the reduced and oxidized forms of the native protein state contribute to the SERR spectra. Thus, the data obtained from the spectra were described by a one-step relaxation process yielding the rate constants of the ET between the adsorbed Cyt-c and the electrode for a driving force of zero electronvolts. For C(16)- and C(11)-SAMs, the respective rate constants of 0.073 and 43 s(-1) correspond to an exponential distance dependence of the ET (beta = 1.28 A(-1)), very similar to that observed for long-range intramolecular ET of redox proteins. Upon further decreasing the chain length, the rate constant only slightly increases to 134 s(-1) at C(6)- and remains essentially unchanged at C(3)- and C(2)-SAMs. The onset of the nonexponential distance dependence is paralleled by a kinetic H/D effect that increases from 1.2 at C(6)- to 4.0 at C(2)-coatings, indicating a coupling of the redox reaction with proton-transfer (PT) steps. These PT processes are attributed to the rearrangement of the hydrogen-bonding network of the protein associated with the transition between the oxidized and reduced state of Cyt-c. Since this unusual kinetic behavior has not been observed for electron-transferring proteins in solution, it is concluded that at the Ag/SAM interface the energy barrier for the PT processes of the adsorbed Cyt-c is raised by the electric field. This effect increases upon reducing the distance to the electrode, until nuclear tunneling becomes the rate-limiting step of the redox process. The electric field dependence of the proton-coupled ET may represent a possible mechanism for controlling biological redox reactions via changes of the transmembrane potential.