Prof. Markus W. Ribbe University of California at Irvine Monday, April 16, 2018 - 11:15am Chemistry Building, Room 400 Inorganic Seminar CMS Seminar The M-cluster is the active site of nitrogenase that contains an 8Fe-core assembled via coupling and rearrangement of two [Fe4S4] clusters concomitant with the insertion of an interstitial carbon and a ‘9thsulfur’. Combining synthetic [Fe4S4] clusters with an assembly protein template, we show that sulfite gives rise to the ‘9thsulfur’ that is incorporated in the catalytically important belt region of the cofactor after the radical SAM-dependent carbide insertion and the concurrent 8Fe-core rearrangement have already taken place. This work provides a semi-synthetic tool for strategically labeling the cofactor—including its ‘9thS’ in the belt region—for mechanistic investigations of nitrogenase while suggesting an interesting link between nitrogen fixation and sulfite detoxification in diazotrophic organisms.