Valence to Core X-Ray Emission Spectroscopy of Key Soluble Methane Monooxygenase Intermediate and Relevant Model Complexes

While methane to methanol conversion in industry is a multistep, energy intensive reaction, soluble methane monooxygenases (sMMO) are capable of converting methane to methanol in a single step under ambient conditions. Understanding the catalytic cycle of sMMO would open doors towards biocatalytic liquid fuel production. The structure of MMO-Q, the key intermediate to which activates methane, has been the subject of debate for decades. VtC XES is a particularly effective method for ligand identification between similar scatterers, and can even be used in combination with density functional theory calculations to determine protonation states of ligands. Additionally, the use of model complexes with related di-iron structures will aid in creating a framework for comparison with QM/MM DFT models. As such, we propose to apply VtC XES for the study of sMMO-Q and relevant model complexes.