Determination of iron - ligand bond lengths in horse heart met- and deoxymyoglobin using multiple-scattering XAFS analyses

MS XAFS spectroscopic methods were used to analyze horse heart met- and deoxy-myoglobin. The study provides examples of both the strengths and weaknesses of XAFS as a tool for the study of metalloproteins. The new values of the metal-ligand bond lengths in horse heart met- and deoxy-myoglobin have probable errors in the 0.02-0.03 A range in comparison to the figures derived for well-refined crystal structures at a certain resolution.