The experimentally determined electronic structures of mononuclear blue Cu
and binuclear Cu-A centers are summarized and their relation to intra-and i
nter-protein electron transfer (ET) kinetics are described. Specific contri
butions of the electronic structures of these two broad classes of Cu ET pr
oteins to H-AB, lambda, and Delta E degrees are discussed. Also, the role o
f the protein structure in determining key geometric features which define
the electronic structures of the metal sites in these proteins is considere
d.