| Sumario: | The most common partner of the Zn-bound His is the Asp/Glu carboxylate side chain in catalytic Zn sites and the backbone (Bkb) carbonyl group in structural Zn sites. To elucidate the factors governing the selection of the second-shell partner of the Zn-bound His in structural/catalytic Zn sites, systematic studies using density functional theory and continuum dielectric calculations were performed to determine the relative contributions of the second-shell Bkb carbonyl and the Asp/Glu carboxylate to the Zn-core stability and reactivity. The results show that the contributions of the second-shell Bkb carbonyl and Asp/ Glu carboxylate to the Zn-core stability depend mainly on the solvent accessibility of the Zn-site and the composition of the Zn-core. They reveal the advantage of a second-shell Bkb carbonyl in anionic Zn cavities: it stabilizes anionic, buried Zn-cores more than the corresponding negatively charged Asp/Glu carboxylate, thus explaining the absence of the Zn-His-Asp/Glu triad in structural [Zn(Cys)(His)] cores. They also reveal the advantage of a second-shell Asp/Glu carboxylate in catalytic Zn-cores: relative to a Bkb carbonyl group, it increases (i) the HOMO energy of the cationic/neutral zinc core, (ii) the reactivity of the attacking Zn-bound OH, (iii) electron transfer to the substrate, and (iv) the stability of the metal complex upon electron transfer. Furthermore, a second-shell Asp/Glu carboxylate could facilitate product release in the common cationic catalytic cores, by acting as a proton acceptor of the Zn-bound His creating an Asp┅His dyad that stabilizes the zinc dication more than the respective Bkb┅His° dyad.
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