Cobalt(II)-
14N superhyperfine and
14N nuclear quadrupole couplings in cryotrapped free andethanolamine deaminase-bound cob(II)alamin have been characterized in the disordered solid state byusing X-band electron spin-echo envelope modulation (ESEEM) spectroscopy. Enzyme-bound cob(II)alamin was cryotrapped after formation by substrate-initiated, thermally activated cleavage of the cobalt-carbon bond of adenosylcobalamin. Free dimethylbenzimidazole axial base-on cob(II)alamin was formedby photolysis of the corresponding adenosylcobalamin and cryotrapped in glycerol-aqueous glass. Three-pulse ESEEM experiments were performed by using microwave pulse excitation at the
g value of Co
IIat magnetic field values of 287.0 and 345.0 mT and over a range of
values from 227 to 1316 ns. Twocommon sets of
14N features are distinguished in the ESEEM spectra. One set is assigned to the remote(N1) nitrogen in the dimethylbenzimidazole
-axial ligand by using two independent approaches: (a)comparison of ESEEM from cob(II)alamin with ESEEM from cob(II)inamide-ligand model compoundsand (b) from the correspondence between the N1
14N nuclear quadrupole parameters derived from ESEEMsimulations and those computed by using density functional theory. The second set is assigned to thecorrin ring
14N nuclei. The results identify the coenzyme's on-board dimethylbenzimidazole moiety asthe
-axial ligand to cob(II)alamin in ethanolamine deaminase in the substrate radical-Co
II biradicalcatalytic intermediate state. Thus, Co
II is a pentacoordinate,
-axial liganded complex during turnover.We infer that dimethylbenzimidazole is also the
-axial ligand to the intact coenzyme in the restingenzyme. A 14% increase in the isotropic hyperfine coupling of the remote dimethylbenzimidazole
14Nnucleus in enzyme-bound versus free base-on cob(II)alamin shows an enhanced delocalization of unpairedspin density from Co
II onto the axial ligand, which would contribute to the acceleration of the cobalt-carbon bond cleavage rate in situ.