Perhaps the first report of TTFA as an inhibitor of respiration was by A. L. Tappel in 1960.[2] Tappel had the (erroneous) idea that inhibitors like antimycin and alkyl hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide might work by chelating iron in the hydrophobic milieu of respiratory membrane proteins, so he tested a series of hydrophobic chelating agents. TTFA was a potent inhibitor, but not because of its chelating ability. TTFA binds at the quinone reduction site in Complex II, preventing ubiquinone from binding. The first x-ray structure of Complex II showing how TTFA binds, 1ZP0, was published in 2005
.[3]
^Tappel (July 1960). "Inhibition of electron transport by antimycin A, alkyl hydroxy naphthoquinones and metal coordination compounds". Biochem. Pharmacol. 3 (4): 289–96. doi:10.1016/0006-2952(60)90094-0. PMID13836892.