Functional biomimetic models for the active site in the respiratory enzyme cytochrome c oxidase.

A functional analog of the active site in the respiratory enzyme, cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) reproduces every feature in CcO's active site: a myoglobin-like heme (heme a3), a distal tridentate imidazole copper complex (Cu(B)), a phenol (Tyr244), and a proximal imidazole. When covalently attached to a liquid-crystalline SAM film on an Au electrode, this functional model continuously catalyzes the selective four-electron reduction of dioxygen at physiological potential and pH, under rate-limiting electron flux (as occurs in CcO).