In: Chemistry
Why is iron such a commonly used metal in metalloenzymes?
Essential metals have included the alkali metals potassium (K), and sodium (Na), the alkaline earth metals calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), and the transition metals copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and zinc(Zn) . Other transition metals which have less well defined or more obscure biological functions include cobalt (Co), molybdenum(Mo) and nickel(Ni). Metals such as iron are particularly important to biological system because of their ability to adopt multiple redox and spin states under physiological conditions. Such properties make these metals extremely versatile prosthetic components for incorporation into proteins that serve as biocatalysts or electron carriers.