Reductive Cleavage of S-adenosylmethionine in Radical SAM Enzymes Squire J. Booker, Department of Chemistry and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology The Pennsylvania State University The goal of the research conducted is to address the mechanism of cleavage of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) in the Radical SAM family of enzymes, with a particular focus on understanding the energetics of the reaction. Redox potentials of the requisite [4Fe–4S] cluster are determined in the presence of SAM and SAM analogs, while XAS and ENDOR spectroscopy are used to assess coordination of the molecule and cleavage products to the unique iron site of the cluster.