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Updated: Sep 5, 2025

Structure and Coordination Determination of Peptide-metal Complexes Using 1D and 2D 1H NMR
Published on: December 16, 2013
An unexpected all-metal aromatic tetranuclear silver cluster in human copper chaperone Atox1
Xiuxiu Wang1,2, Zong-Chang Han3, Wei Wei1,2,4
1State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center (ChemBIC), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University Nanjing 210023 China jingzhao@nju.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Metal clusters, such as iron-sulfur clusters, play key roles in sustaining life and are intimately involved in the functions of metalloproteins. Herein we report the formation and crystal structure of a planar square tetranuclear silver cluster when silver ions were mixed with human copper chaperone Atox1. Quantum chemical studies reveal that two Ag 5s1 electrons in the tetranuclear silver cluster fully occupy the one bonding molecular orbital, with the assumption that this Ag4 cluster is Ag4 2+, leading to extensive electron delocalization over the planar square and significant stabilization. This bonding pattern of the tetranuclear silver cluster represents an aromatic all-metal structure that follows a 4n + 2 electron counting rule (n = 0). This is the first time an all-metal aromatic silver cluster was observed in a protein.
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