Time-resolved step-scan Fourier infrared spectroscopy has been used to study the CO-bound
cbb3-type cytochrome c oxidase from Pseudomonas stutzeri at room temperature. We observe a single band in the FTIR spectrum at 1956 cm
-1 (
![](/images/gifchars/beta2.gif)
-form). The time-resolved data indicate that upon photolysis, CO is transferred from heme
b3 (
CO = 1956 cm
-1) to CuB (
CO = 2064 cm
-1). The decay of the 2065 cm
-1 peak (
t1/2 = 120 ± 16 ms) and the development of the 1956 cm
-1 peak (
t1/2 = 144 ± 8 ms ) suggest that formation of the Fe-CO complex is concurrent with the decay of the CuB-CO complex. The intensity ratio of the Fe-CO/CuB-CO (2.15) remains constant for all data points, and thus we conclude that no fraction of CO escapes the binuclear center at 293 K.