0000000001305756
AUTHOR
Christa L. Brosseau
A Simple Complex on the Verge of Breakdown: Isolation of the Elusive Cyanoformate Ion
Cyanide Hitches a Ride Cyanide is a by-product of the biosynthesis of ethylene in plants and it has been somewhat puzzling how the ion is safely removed before it can shut down enzymatic pathways by coordination to catalytic iron centers. A proposed mechanism has implicated the cyanoformate ion—essentially, a weak adduct of cyanide and carbon dioxide—as the initial product, although its lifetime was uncertain. Murphy et al. (p. 75 ; see the Perspective by Alabugin and Mohamed ) crystallized this previously elusive adduct and found that its solution-phase stability varies inversely with the dielectric properties of the medium. The results bolster a picture in which the adduct shuttles the cy…
CCDC 986380: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination
Related Article: Luke J. Murphy, Katherine N. Robertson, Scott G. Harroun, Christa L. Brosseau, Ulrike Werner-Zwanziger, Jani Moilanen, Heikki M. Tuononen, Jason A.C. Clyburne|2014|Science|344|75|doi:10.1126/science.1250808