The heme enzyme chlorite dismutase (Cld) catalyzes O-O bond formation as part of the conversion of the toxic chlorite (ClO₂ ^-) to chloride (Cl^-) and molecular oxygen (O₂). Enzymatic O-O bond formation is rare in nature, and therefore, the reaction mechanism of Cld is of great interest. Microsecond timescale pre-steady-state kinetic experiments employing Cld from Azospira oryzae (AoCld), the natural substrate chlorite, and the model substrate peracetic acid (PAA) reveal the formation of distinct intermediates. AoCld forms a complex with PAA rapidly, which is cleaved heterolytically to yield Compound I, which is sequentially converted to Compound II. In the presence of chlorite, AoCld forms an initial intermediate with spectroscopic characteristics of a 6-coordinate high-spin ferric substrate adduct, which subsequently transforms at k _obs = 2-5 × 10⁴ s^-1 to an intermediate 5-coordinated high-spin ferric species. Microsecond-timescale freeze-hyperquench experiments uncovered the presence of a transient low-spin ferric species and a triplet species attributed to two weakly coupled amino acid cation radicals. The intermediates of the chlorite reaction were not observed with the model substrate PAA. These findings demonstrate the nature of physiologically relevant catalytic intermediates and show that the commonly used model substrate may not behave as expected, which demands a revision of the currently proposed mechanism of Clds. The transient triplet-state biradical species that we designate as Compound T is, to the best of our knowledge, unique in heme enzymology. The results highlight electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic evidence for transient intermediate formation during the reaction of AoCld with its natural substrate chlorite. In the proposed mechanism, the heme iron remains ferric throughout the catalytic cycle, which may minimize the heme moiety's reorganization and thereby maximize the enzyme's catalytic efficiency.

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