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Deprotonation of ligand-appended alkoxyl groups in mononuclear copper(II) complexes of N,O ligands L1 and L2, gave dinuclear complexes sharing symmetrical Cu2O2 cores. Molecular structures of these mono- and binuclear complexes have been characterized by XRD, and their electronic structures by UV/Vis, 1H NMR, EPR and DFT; moreover, catalytic performance as models of catechol oxidase was studied. The binuclear complexes with anti-ferromagnetically coupled copper(II) centers are moderately active in quinone formation from 3,5-di- tert-butyl-catechol under the established conditions of oxygen saturation, but are strongly activated when additional dioxygen is administered during catalytic turnover. This unforeseen and unprecedented effect is attributed to increased maximum reaction rates vmax, whereas the substrate affinity KM remains unaffected. Oxygen administration is capable of (partially) removing limitations to turnover caused by product inhibition. Because product inhibition is generally accepted to be a major limitation of catechol oxidase models, we think that our observations will be applicable more widely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]