Simulations of the ¹H electron spin echo-electron nuclear double resonance and ²H electron spin echo envelope modulation spectra of exchangeable hydrogen nuclei coupled to the S₂-state photosystem II manganese cluster

The pulsed EPR methods of electron spin echo envelope modulation (ESEEM) and electron spin echo-electron nuclear double resonance (ESE-ENDOR) are used to investigate the proximity of exchangeable hydrogens around the paramagnetic S₂-state Mn cluster of the photosystem II oxygen-evolving complex. Although ESEEM and ESE-ENDOR are both pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance techniques, the specific mechanisms by which nuclear spin transitions are observed are quite different. We are able to generate good simulations of both ¹H ESE-ENDOR and ²H ESEEM signatures of exchangeable hydrogens at the S₂-state cluster. The convergence of simulation parameters for both methods provides a high degree of confidence in the simulations. Several exchangeable protons-deuterons with strong dipolar couplings are observed. In the simulations, two of the close (≈2.5 Å) hydrogen nuclei exhibit strong isotropic couplings and are therefore most probably associated with direct substrate ligation to paramagnetic Mn. Another two of the close (≈2.7 Å) hydrogen nuclei show no isotropic couplings and are therefore most probably not contained in Mn ligands. We suggest that these proximal hydrogens may be associated with a Ca²⁺-bound substrate, as indicated in recent mechanistic proposals for O₂ formation.