Is the calcium-ion catalysis of biological reoxidation of reduced PQQ purely electrostatic?†
Abstract
Semiempirical (PM3) molecular orbital calculations on the mechanism of reoxidation of PQQ by triplet dioxygen suggest that the reaction can proceed purely by hydrogen-atom-transfer steps that are catalysed by the electrostatic effect of a coordinated calcium ion, rather than by an electron-transfer mechanism.