Binding of Mn(pi)-nucleotide complexes to the enzyme formyltertrahydrofolate synthetase (EC 6.3.4.3) from Clostridium cylindrosporum has been examined in the presence and absence of other substrates by solvent proton relaxation mearurements. MnADP and MnATP form ternary complexes with the enzyme with highly enhanced proton relaxation rates for water. The enhancement parameters, epsilont, for the MnADP and MnATP ternary complexes are 19.8 and 12.5, respectively at 24.3 MHZ and 25 degrees. Titration curves with constant total concentrations of enzyme and Mn(pi) with variable nucleotide concentration are similar to those observed in similar titrations with the endp and MnATP are 175 muM and 64 muM, respectively at 25 degrees. Addition of tetrahydrofolate to solutions of the MnADP OR MnATP ternary complexes lowers the observed relaxation enhancement markedly. An analysis of titration curves with constant total concentrations of enzyme, Mn(pi), and nucleotide with variable tetrahydrofolate concentration gives the dissociation constant for tetrahydrofolate from the respective quaternary complexes. The affinity of the enzyme for tetrahydrofolate is increased 6-fold when MnADP is present at the active site whereas a 3-fold increase is observed with MnATP present. Furthermore, there is a 20-fold increase in the enzyme's affinity for tetrahydrofolate when both MnADP and the third substrate, formate, are present. The observed relaxation rate of water for solutions of the complex, enzyme-MnADP-tetrahydrofolate-formate, is deenhanced with respect to the rate observed for the simple aquo-Mn(pi) solution. Addition of nitrate to solutions of the above complex increases the affinity of the enzyme for tetrahydrofolate and MnADP by an additional factor of 5 and lowers the relaxation rate further to a value which approaches that for solutions of the enzyme and substrates which lack the paramagnetic cation.