Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 11, 2026

Experimental Approaches for the Synthesis of Low-Valent Metal-Organic Frameworks from Multitopic Phosphine Linkers
Published on: May 12, 2023
One Hundred Years of Sulfido Ligand in the Molybdenum Cofactor: New Perspectives
Silke Leimkühler1, Benjamin R Duffus1, Carola Schulzke2
1Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Department of Molecular Enzymology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
Abstract:
The xanthine oxidase (XO) family of mononuclear molybdoenzymes consists of well-studied enzymes like XO, xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH), and aldehyde oxidase (AO) in eukaryotes. The characteristic of this family is a terminal sulfido ligand bound to the active site Mo or W ion. Historically, these enzymes were among the first to be investigated in a purified form. Since its discovery in 1902 in cow's milk, the XO enzyme is among the best-studied molybdoenzymes. Much pioneering work has been carried out including comprehensive spectroscopic and structural analyses to study the enzymes' molybdenum center. This led to the discovery that the enzyme produces superoxide and thereby inactivates itself by removal of the essential sulfido ligand at the active site. This sulfido ligand has been later discovered also in enzymes of the dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) reductase family. In this review, we describe historical aspects on the discovery and role of the sulfido ligand in the two enzyme families, contextualize new discoveries, and provide perspectives for future investigations into still elusive research questions urgently requiring determination, which may or may not span yet another 125 years.
More Related Videos
06:53Magnetometric Characterization of Intermediates in the Solid-State Electrochemistry of Redox-Active Metal-Organic Frameworks
Published on: June 9, 2023
04:51Synthesis of Triazole and Tetrazole-Functionalized Zr-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks Through Post-Synthetic Ligand Exchange
Published on: June 23, 2023
Related Concept Videos
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Microbes and Other Elemental Cycles
Microbial Leaching
Complexometric Titration: Ligands
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
Preparation and Reactions of Sulfides