Investigations of the efficient electrocatalytic interconversions of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide by nickel-containing carbon monoxide dehydrogenases.

Carbon monoxide dehydrogenases (CODH) play an important role in utilizing carbon monoxide (CO) or carbon dioxide (CO2) in the metabolism of some microorganisms. Two distinctly different types of CODH are distinguished by the elements constituting the active site. A Mo-Cu containing CODH is found in some aerobic organisms, whereas a Ni-Fe containing CODH (henceforth simply Ni-CODH) is found in some anaerobes. Two members of the simplest class (IV) of Ni-CODH behave as efficient, reversible electrocatalysts of CO2/CO interconversion when adsorbed on a graphite electrode. Their intense electroactivity sets an important benchmark for the standard of performance at which synthetic molecular and material electrocatalysts comprised of suitably attired abundant first-row transition elements must be able to operate. Investigations of CODHs by protein film electrochemistry (PFE) reveal how the enzymes respond to the variable electrode potential that can drive CO2/CO interconversion in each direction, and identify the potential thresholds at which different small molecules, both substrates and inhibitors, enter or leave the catalytic cycle. Experiments carried out on a much larger (Class III) enzyme CODH/ACS, in which CODH is complexed tightly with acetyl-CoA synthase, show that some of these characteristics are retained, albeit with much slower rates of interfacial electron transfer, attributable to the difficulty in making good electronic contact at the electrode. The PFE results complement and clarify investigations made using spectroscopic investigations.