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Reaction of nitrogen monoxide with a copper(I) complex possessing a tridentate alkylamine ligand gives a Cu(I)–(·NO) adduct, which when exposed to dioxygen generates a peroxynitrite (O=NOO−)–Cu(II) species. This undergoes thermal transformation to produce a copper(II) nitrito (NO2 –) complex and 0.5 mol equiv O2. In the presence of a substituted phenol, the peroxynitrite complex effects oxidative coupling, whereas addition of chloride ion to dissociate the peroxynitrite moiety instead leads to phenol ortho nitration. Discussions include the structures (including electronic description) of the copper–nitrosyl and copper–peroxynitrite complexes and the formation of the latter, based on density functional theory calculations and accompanying spectroscopic data.

The uncatalyzed reactions of O 2 (S = 1) with organic substrates (S = 0) are thermodynamically favorable but kinetically slow because they are spin-forbidden and the one-electron reduction potential of O 2 is unfavorable. In nature, many of these important O 2 reactions are catalyzed by metalloenzymes. In the case of mononuclear non-heme iron enzymes, either Fe II or Fe III can play the catalytic role in these spin-forbidden reactions. Whereas the ferrous enzymes activate O 2 directly for reaction, the ferric enzymes activate the substrate for O 2 attack. The enzyme–substrate complex of the ferric intradiol dioxygenases exhibits a low-energy catecholate to Fe III charge transfer transition that provides a mechanism by which both the Fe center and the catecholic substrate are activated for the reaction with O 2 . In this Perspective, we evaluate how the coupling between this experimentally observed charge transfer and the change in geometry and ligand field of the oxidized metal center along the reaction coordinate can overcome the spin-forbidden nature of the O 2 reaction.

In a previous study, we analyzed the electronic structure of S = 3/2 [FeNO](7) model complexes [Brown et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 715-732]. The combined spectroscopic data and SCF-X alpha-SW electronic structure calculations are best described in terms of Fe(III) (S = 5/2) antiferromagnetically coupled to NO(-) (S = 1). Many nitrosyl derivatives of non-heme iron enzymes have spectroscopic properties similar to those of these model complexes. These NO derivatives can serve as stable analogues of highly labile oxygen intermediates. It is thus essential to establish a reliable density functional theory (DFT) methodology for the geometry and energetics of [FeNO](7) complexes, based on detailed experimental data. This methodology can then be extended to the study of [FeO(2)](8) complexes, followed by investigations into the reaction mechanisms of non-heme iron enzymes. Here, we have used the model complex Fe(Me(3)TACN)(NO)(N(3))(2) as an experimental marker and determined that a pure density functional BP86 with 10% hybrid character and a mixed triple-zeta/double-zeta basis set lead to agreement between experimental and computational data. This methodology is then applied to optimize the hypothetical Fe(Me(3)TACN)(O(2))(N(3))(2) complex, where the NO moiety is replaced by O(2). The main geometric differences are an elongated Fe[bond]O(2) and a steeper Fe[bond]O[bond]O angle in the [FeO(2)](8) complex. The electronic structure of [FeO(2)](8) corresponds to Fe(III) (S = 5/2) antiferromagnetically coupled to O(2)(-) (S = 1/2), and, consistent with the extended bond length, the [FeO(2)](8) unit has only one Fe(III)-O(2)(-) bonding interaction, while the [FeNO](7) unit has both sigma and pi type Fe(III)-NO(-) bonds. This is in agreement with experiment as NO forms a more stable Fe(III)-NO(-) adduct relative to O(2)(-). Although NO is, in fact, harder to reduce, the resultant NO(-) species forms a more stable bond to Fe(III) relative to O(2)(-) due to the different bonding interactions.

The effects of the nature and concentration of the solutes 1,3,5-trichlorobenzene (TCB), benzene, chlorobenzene, o-dichlorobenzene, m-dichlorobenzene, and p-dichlorobenzene on orientational order in the nematic liquid crystal N-(4-ethoxybenzylidene)-2,6-dideutero-4-n-butylaniline are investigated using NMR spectroscopy. Seven separate samples containing differing concentrations of all solutes are investigated at constant temperature, at constant reduced temperature, at constant TCB orientational order, and at constant liquid crystal orientational order. Various schemes for comparison of orientational order among the samples are examined. For the experiments performed here, the most consistent method to compare solute orientational order in the different samples is to multiply results from the experiments performed at constant temperature by the factor needed to equate the TCB order parameters.

Catecholate-Fe(III) (high-spin) bonds are important in many areas of bioinorganic chemistry. These exhibit low-energy, intense ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) transitions reflecting highly covalent bonds. This high covalency can make a major contribution to function. In this review, we develop the method of metal L-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) as a probe of differential orbital covalency (DOC), the amount of ligand character in the different d orbitals of a metal site in a highly covalent environment. We then apply this method to experimentally determine the covalency of the ligand-metal bonds related to the siderophores and computationally evaluate this contribution to their high stability constants. We then use variable-temperature, variable-field, magnetic circular dichroism (VTVH MCD) spectroscopy to assign the LMCT transitions of the catecholate-, substrate-bound FeIII site of the intradiol dioxygenases. A reaction coordinate is presented where this charge transfer can overcome the spin-forbidden nature of the reaction of the bound catecholate (singlet) with dioxygen (triplet). Keywords: catecholate; ferric; intradiol dioxygenases; siderophores; XAS; MCD

A discrete peroxynitrite−copper(II) complex, [(TMG3tren)CuII(−OON═O)]+ (3), has been generated in solution (ESI-MS, m/z = 565.15; tetragonal EPR) by reacting •NO(g) with superoxo complex [(TMG3tren)CuII(O2•−)]+ (2). Complex 3 undergoes a thermal transformation to give CuII−nitrite complex [(TMG3tren)CuII(−ONO)]+ (4) (X-ray) along with ca. 0.5 molar equiv dioxygen. A DFT calculation derived structure with cyclic bidentate k2-O,O′-OONO bound peroxynitrite moiety and dx2−y2 ground state is proposed. Experiments using 18O2 suggest that the adjacent peroxo oxygen atoms in 3 are derived from molecular oxygen. Further, 18O2 containing 3 undergoes O−O bond cleavage to form singly 18-O-labeled 4. The results suggest the viability of biological CuI/O2/(•NO) peroxynitrite formation and chemistry, that is, not coming from free superoxide plus •NO reaction.

Various mechanisms have been proposed for the initial O(2) attack in intradiol dioxygenases based on different electronic descriptions of the enzyme-substrate (ES) complex. We have examined the geometric and electronic structure of the high-spin ferric ES complex of protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase (3,4-PCD) with UV/visible absorption, circular dichroism (CD), magnetic CD (MCD), and variable-temperature variable-field (VTVH) MCD spectroscopies. The experimental data were coupled with DFT and INDO/S-CI calculations, and an experimentally calibrated bonding description was obtained. The broad absorption spectrum for the ES complex in the 6000-31000 cm(-1) region was resolved into at least five individual transitions, assigned as ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) from the protocatechuate (PCA) substrate and Tyr408. From our DFT calculations, all five LMCT transitions originate from the PCA and Tyr piop orbitals to the ferric dpi orbitals. The strong pi covalent donor interactions dominate the bonding in the ES complex. Using hypothetical Ga(3+)-catecholate/semiquinone complexes as references, 3,4-PCD-PCA was found to be best described as a highly covalent Fe(3+)-catecholate complex. The covalency is distributed unevenly among the four PCA valence orbitals, with the strongest interaction between the piop-sym and Fe dxz orbitals. This strong pi interaction, as reflected in the lowest energy PCA-to-Fe(3+) LMCT transition, is responsible for substrate activation for the O(2) reaction of intradiol dioxygenases. This involves a multi-electron-transfer (one beta and two alpha) mechanism, with Fe3+ acting as a buffer for the spin-forbidden two-electron redox process between PCA and O(2) in the formation of the peroxy-bridged ESO2 intermediate. The Fe ligand field overcomes the spin-forbidden nature of the triplet O(2) reaction, which potentially results in an intermediate spin state (S = 3/2) on the Fe(3+) center which is stabilized by a change in coordination along the reaction coordinate.

The extradiol dioxygenase, 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl 1,2-dioxygenase (DHBD, EC 1.13.11.39), has been studied using magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), variable-temperature variable-field (VTVH) MCD, X-ray absorption (XAS) pre-edge, and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopies, which are analogous to methods used in earlier studies on the extradiol dioxygenase catechol 2,3-dioxygenase [Mabrouk et al. J. Am. Chem Soc. 1991, 113, 4053-4061]. For DHBD, the spectroscopic data can be correlated to the results of crystallography and with the results from density functional calculations to obtain detailed geometric and electronic structure descriptions of the resting and substrate (DHB) bound forms of the enzyme. The geometry of the active site of the resting enzyme, square pyramidal with a strong Fe-glutamate bond in the equatorial plane, localizes the redox active orbital in an orientation appropriate for O(2) binding. However, the O(2) reaction is not favorable, as it would produce a ferric superoxide intermediate with a weak Fe-O bond. Substrate binding leads to a new square pyramidal structure with the strong Fe-glutamate bond in the axial direction as indicated by a decrease in the (5)E(g) and increase in the (5)T(2g) splitting. Electronic structure calculations provide insight into the relative lack of dioxygen reactivity for the resting enzyme and its activation upon substrate binding.