Implications of a Carboxylate‐Bound C‐Cluster Structure of Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase

Abstract

Seeing the C: Nickel-containing carbon monoxide dehydrogenases reversibly oxidize CO to CO2 at a {[Fe3S4]:[Ni Fea]} active site known as the C-cluster. Recently reported structures of the enzyme by Jeoung and Dobbek, including those of CO2-bound and OH-bound intermediates, shed new light on the enzyme's catalytic mechanism. This Highlight describes these developments and their implications.