Validation of Exchange−Correlation Functionals for Spin States of Iron Complexes

High-spin versus broken symmetry—Effect of DFT spin density representation on the geometries of three diiron (III) model compounds

Unrestricted density functional theory calculations have been conducted on three diiron(III) synthetic model compounds containing antiferromagnetically coupled high-spin (HS) irons for which crystallographic structures and Raman spectral data are available. Three density functionals have been employed: BPW91, PWC, and BOP. The study compares the effects on optimized geometries and harmonic vibrational frequencies of spin-paired (SP) low-spin, HS, and broken symmetry antiferromagnetically coupled singlet representations of the spin density distribution. The geometries around the diiron centers in the HS and broken symmetry (BS) representations are found to be similar, both markedly different from those arising from the SP representation. Small differences between the HS and BS results are seen in bond lengths, angles, Raman frequencies, and spin densities associated with oxo and peroxo bridges between the irons.

Protein Environment Facilitates O2 Binding in Non-Heme Iron Enzyme. An Insight from ONIOM Calculations on Isopenicillin N Synthase (IPNS)

Binding of dioxygen to a non-heme enzyme has been modeled using the ONIOM combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) method. For the present system, isopenicillin N synthase (IPNS), binding of dioxygen is stabilized by 8-10 kcal/mol for a QM:MM (B3LYP:Amber) protein model compared to a quantum mechanical model of the active site only. In the protein system, the free energy change of O2 binding is close to zero. Two major factors consistently stabilize O2 binding. The first effect, evaluated at the QM level, originates from a change in coordination geometry of the iron center. The active-site model artificially favors the deoxy state (O2 not bound) because it allows too-large rearrangements of the five-coordinate iron site. This error is corrected when the protein is included. The corresponding effect on binding energies is 3-6 kcal/mol, depending on the coordination mode of O2 (side-on or end-on). The second major factor that stabilizes O2 binding is van der Waals interactions between dioxygen and the surrounding enzyme. These interactions, 3-4 kcal/mol at the MM level, are neglected in models that include only the active site. Polarization of the active site by surrounding amino acids does not have a significant effect on the binding energy in the present system.

Electronic Structure of Some Substituted Iron(II) Porphyrins. Are They Intermediate or High Spin?

The electronic structure of some substituted, four-coordinate iron(II) porphyrins has been investigated with DFT methods. These systems include iron tetraphenylporphine (FeTPP), iron octamethyltetrabenzporphine (FeOTBP), iron tetra(alpha,alpha,alpha,alpha-orthopivalamide)phenylporphine (FeTpivPP, also called "picket fence" porphyrin), halogenated iron porphyrins (FeTPPXn, X=F, Cl; n=20, 28), and iron octaethylporphine (FeOEP). A number of density functionals were used in the calculations. Different from the popular, intermediate-spin FeTPP, the ground states of FeOTBP, FeTPPCl28, and FeTPPF20betaCl8 are predicted to be high spin. The calculated result for FeOTBP is in agreement with the early experimental measurement, thereby changing the previous conclusion drawn from the calculations with only the BP functional (J. Chem. Phys. 2002, 116, 3635). But FeTpivPP might have an intermediate-spin ground state, a conclusion that is different from the "experimental" one. With a notably expanded Fe-N bond length, FeOEP might exist as an admixed-spin (S=1, 2) state. We also calculated the electron affinities (EAs) for the various iron porphyrins and compared them to experiment. On the basis of the calculated trends in the EAs and in the orbital energies, the experimental EAs for FeTpivPP, FeTPPF20, and FeTPPCl28 may be too small by 0.4-0.5 eV.

Oxidative dehalogenation of perhalogenated benzenes by cytochrome P450 compound I

Resolution of the identity PBE (RI-PBE) and B3LYP density functional theory calculations are used to understand the cytochrome P450-catalyzed, Compound I-mediated oxidation of perchlorobenzenes, perfluorobenzenes, their phenols, and mixed chlorofluorobenzenes to form benzoquinones. Addition of Compound I to the chlorine-bearing carbon of perchlorobenzenes and perchlorophenols results in an apparently barrierless 1,2-shift of the chlorine atom to form hexachlorocyclohexadienones and hydroxypentachlorocyclohexadienones, respectively. Hexachlorocyclohexadienone has a significant electron affinity, and its radical anion expels chloride in a facile manner to give the pentachlorophenoxyl radical. Deprotonation of hydroxypentachlorocyclohexadienones results in the expulsion of chloride and provides a direct route to the production of tetrachloroquinones. Barrier heights for Compound I addition to fluorine-bearing carbons of hexafluorobenzene and pentafluorophenol are comparable to those computed for oxidation of benzene via an analogous reaction path. In contrast to the chlorinated cases, fluorine migration to cyclohexadienones occurs with a moderate barrier. Additionally, gas-phase elimination of fluoride from the hexafluorocyclohexadienone radical anion and deprotonated hydroxypentafluorocyclohexadienone are not facile. Rather, consideration of implicit and explicit solvent is required to achieve favorable thermochemistry for fluoride elimination and generation of the experimentally observed products. Finally, the theoretical approach described herein is predictive of the experimentally observed preferential elimination of fluorine from chloropentafluorobenzene and 1,3,5-trichloro-2,4,6-trifluorobenzene. These studies illustrate the effectiveness of P450 Compound I as an oxidant of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons, which are persistent environmental contaminants, and the potential utility of such computational methods for predicting P450 metabolism.

Density functional theory and ab initio study of electronic and electrochemistry properties of the tetranuclear sandwich complex [FeIII4(H2O)2(PW9O34)2]6-

Quantum chemistry calculations have been performed to unravel the electronic and electrochemical properties of a FeIII-sandwich polyoxometalate. Using a combination of methods, it is shown that in these clusters the first reduction occurs in the so-called external Fe, which is bonded to a water ligand. Calculations also show that the electron reductions are coupled with protonation processes, in full agreement with existing experimental results.

Proton assisted oxygen-oxygen bond splitting in cytochrome p450

Proton assisted O-O bond splitting of cytochromes' P450 hydroperoxo Compound 0 has been investigated by density functional theory, showing a barrier for the slightly endothermic formation of the iron-oxo Compound I. The barrier and the endothermicity increase with decreasing acidity of the distal proton source. Protonation of the proximal iron heme ligand favors the O-O bond scission and provides an important regulatory component in the catalytic cycle. The Compound 0 --> I conversion is slightly exothermic for the peroxidase and catalase models. Implications of the energetic relationship between the two reactive intermediates are discussed in terms of possible oxidative pathways.

Electronic Structure and Bonding of {Fe(PhNO2)}6 Complexes: A Density Functional Theory Study

Reduction of nitro-aromatic compounds (NACs) proceeds through intermediates with a partial electron transfer into the nitro group from a reducing agent. To estimate the extent of such a transfer and, therefore, the activity of various model ferrous-containing reductants toward NAC degradation, the unrestricted density functional theory (DFT) in the basis of paired Löwdin-Amos-Hall orbitals has been applied to complexes of nitrobenzene (NB) and model Fe(II) hydroxides including cationic [FeOH]+, then neutral Fe(OH)2, and finally anionic [Fe(OH)3]-. Electron transfer is considered to be a process of unpairing electrons (without the change of total spin projection Sz) that reveals itself in a substantial spin contamination of the unrestricted solution. The unrestricted orbitals are transformed into localized paired orbitals to determine the orbital channels for a particular electron-transfer state and the weights of idealized charge-transfer and covalent electron structures. This approach allows insight into the electronic structure and bonding of the {Fe(PhNO2)}6 unit (according to Enemark and Feltham notation) to be gained using model nitrobenzene complexes. The electronic structure of this unit can be expressed in terms of pi-type covalent bonding [Fe+2(d6, S = 2) - PhNO2(S = 0)] or charge-transfer configuration [Fe+3(d5, S = 5/2) - {PhNO2}- ((pi*)1, S = 1/2)].

Interaction of Metal Porphyrins with Fullerene C60: A New Insight

The electronic structure and bonding in the noncovalent, supramolecular complexes of fullerene C60 with a series of first-row transition metal porphines MP (M=Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn) have been re-examined with DFT methods. A dispersion correction was made for the C60-MP binding energy through an empirical method (J. Comput. Chem. 2004, 25, 1463). Several density functionals and two types of basis sets were employed in the calculations. Our calculated results are rather different from those obtained in a recent paper (J. Phys. Chem. A 2005, 109, 3704). The ground state of C60.FeP is predicted to be high spin (S=2); the low-spin (S=0), closed-shell state is even higher in energy than the intermediate-spin (S=1) state. With only one electron in the Co-dz2 orbital, the calculated Co-C60 distance is in fact rather short, about 0.1 A longer than the Fe-C60 distance in high-spin C60.FeP. Double occupation of an M-dz2 orbital in MP prevents close association of any axial ligand, and so the Ni-C60, Cu-C60, and Zn-C60 distances are much longer than the Co-C60 one. The evaluated MP-C60 binding energies (Ebind) are 0.8 eV (18.5 kcal/mol) for M=Fe/Co and 0.5 eV (11.5 kcal/mol) for M=Ni/Cu/Zn (Ebind is about 0.2 eV larger in the case of C60-MTPP). They are believed to be reliable and accurate based on our dispersion-corrected DFT calculations that included the counterpoise (CP) correction. The effects of the C60 contact on the redox properties of MP were also examined.

Energy landscapes of nucleophilic substitution reactions: A comparison of density functional theory and coupled cluster methods

We have carried out a detailed evaluation of the performance of all classes of density functional theory (DFT) for describing the potential energy surface (PES) of a wide range of nucleophilic substitution (SN2) reactions involving, amongst others, nucleophilic attack at carbon, nitrogen, silicon, and sulfur. In particular, we investigate the ability of the local density approximation (LDA), generalized gradient approximation (GGA), meta-GGA as well as hybrid DFT to reproduce high-level coupled cluster (CCSD(T)) benchmarks that are close to the basis set limit. The most accurate GGA, meta-GGA, and hybrid functionals yield mean absolute deviations of about 2 kcal/mol relative to the coupled cluster data, for reactant complexation, central barriers, overall barriers as well as reaction energies. For the three nonlocal DFT classes, the best functionals are found to be OPBE (GGA), OLAP3 (meta-GGA), and mPBE0KCIS (hybrid DFT). The popular B3LYP functional is not bad but performs significantly worse than the best GGA functionals. Furthermore, we have compared the geometries from several density functionals with the reference CCSD(T) data. The same GGA functionals that perform best for the energies (OPBE, OLYP), also perform best for the geometries with average absolute deviations in bond lengths of 0.06 A and 0.6 degrees, even better than the best meta-GGA and hybrid functionals. In view of the reduced computational effort of GGAs with respect to meta-GGAs and hybrid functionals, let alone coupled cluster, we recommend the use of accurate GGAs such as OPBE or OLYP for the study of SN2 reactions.

Towards understanding performance differences between approximate density functionals for spin states of iron complexes

Density functional theory has been widely used to investigate the structural and electronic properties of heme-containing proteins such as cytochrome P450. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown that approximate exchange-correlation energy density functionals can incorrectly predict the stability order of spin states in, for instance, iron-containing pyridine and imidazole systems. This raises questions about the validity of earlier theoretical studies. In this work, we systematically investigate a few typical inorganic and organic iron-containing complexes and try to understand the performance difference of various density functionals. Two oxidation states of iron, Fe(II) and Fe(III), with different spin states and both adiabatic and vertical structures are considered. A different description of the outmost molecular orbital is found to play the crucial role. Local density and generalized gradient based functionals bias the lower spin state and produce a more localized frontier orbital that is higher in energy than the hybrid functionals. Energy component analysis has been performed, together with comparison of numerous structural and electronic properties. Implications of the present work to the theoretical study of heme-containing biological molecules and other spin-related systems are discussed.

Mechanism of Bleomycin Suicide: A Car−Parrinello Molecular Dynamics Investigation

Using first-principles molecular dynamics simulations (Car-Parrinello method) we investigated the possible reaction pathways for decay of the active bleomycin-Fe(III)-OOH complex, so-called bleomycin suicide. The theoretical model of activated bleomycin contains the whole metal bonding domain of the bleomycin ligand. Simulations performed both in a vacuum and in water show that a facile decaying process involves a homolytic O-O bond cleavage with an almost simultaneous hydrogen atom abstraction. The formation of an intra- or intermolecular hydrogen bond appears to be crucial for the decay of the activated bleomycin. We did not observe any evidence of heterolytic cleavage of the O-O bond of the Fe(III)-OOH species.

Relative energy of the high-(T2g5) and low-(A1g1) spin states of [Fe(H2O)6]2+, [Fe(NH3)6]2+, and [Fe(bpy)3]2+: CASPT2 versus density functional theory

High-level ab initio calculations using the CASPT2 method and extensive basis sets were performed on the energy differences of the high-[(5)T(2g):t(2g) (4)e(g) (2)] and low-[(1)A(1g):t(2g) (6)] spin states of the pseudo-octahedral Fe(II) complexes [Fe(H(2)O)(6)](2+), [Fe(NH(3))(6)](2+), and [Fe(bpy)(3)](2+). The results are compared to the results obtained from density functional theory calculations with the generalized gradient approximation functional BP86 and two hybrid functionals B3LYP and PBE0, and serve as a calibration for the latter methods. We find that large basis set CASPT2 calculations may provide results for the high-spin/low-spin splitting DeltaE(HL) that are accurate to within 1000 cm(-1), provided they are based on an adequately large CAS[10,12] reference wave function. The latter condition was found to be much more stringent for [Fe(bpy)(3)](2+) than for the other two complexes. Our "best" results for DeltaE(HL) (including a zero-point energy correction) are -17 690 cm(-1) for [Fe(H(2)O)(6)](2+), -8389 cm(-1) for [Fe(NH(3))(6)](2+), and 3820 cm(-1) for [Fe(bpy)(3)](2+).

Structure, redox, pK a, spin. A golden tetrad for understanding metalloenzyme energetics and reaction pathways

After a review of the current status of density functional theory (DFT) for spin-polarized and spin-coupled systems, we focus on the resting states and intermediates of redox-active metalloenzymes and electron transfer proteins, showing how comparisons of DFT-calculated spectroscopic parameters with experiment and evaluation of related energies and geometries provide important information. The topics we examine include (1) models for the active-site structure of methane monooxygenase intermediate Q and ribonucleotide reductase intermediate X; (2) the coupling of electron transfer to proton transfer in manganese superoxide dismutase, with implications for reaction kinetics; (3) redox, pK(a), and electronic structure issues in the Rieske iron-sulfur protein, including their connection to coupled electron/proton transfer, and an analysis of how partial electron delocalization strongly alters the electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum; (4) the connection between protein-induced structural distortion and the electronic structure of oxidized high-potential 4Fe4S proteins with implications for cluster reactivity; (5) an analysis of cluster assembly and central-atom insertion into the FeMo cofactor center of nitrogenase based on DFT structural and redox potential calculations.

Characterization of synthetic oxomanganese complexes and the inorganic core of the O2-evolving complex in photosystem II: Evaluation of the DFT/B3LYP level of theory

The capabilities and limitations of the Becke-3-Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) hybrid density functional are investigated as applied to studies of mixed-valent multinuclear oxomanganese complexes. Benchmark calculations involve the analysis of structural, electronic and magnetic properties of di-, tri- and tetra-nuclear Mn complexes, previously characterized both chemically and spectroscopically, including the di-mu-oxo bridged dimers [Mn(III)Mn(IV)(mu-O)(2)(H(2)O)(2)(terpy)(2)](3+) (terpy=2,2':6,2''-terpyridine) and [Mn(III)Mn(IV)(mu-O)(2)(phen)(4)](3+) (phen=1,10-phenanthroline), the Mn trimer [Mn(3)O(4)(bpy)(4)(H(2)O)(2)](4+) (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine), and the tetramer [Mn(4)O(4)L(6)](+) with L=Ph(2)PO(2)(-). Furthermore, the density functional theory (DFT) B3LYP level is applied to analyze the hydrated Mn(3)O(4)CaMn cluster completely ligated by water, OH(-), Cl(-), carboxylate and imidazole ligands, analogous to the '3+1 Mn tetramer' of the oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II. It is found that DFT/B3LYP predicts structural and electronic properties of oxomanganese complexes in pre-selected spin-electronic states in very good agreement with X-ray and magnetic experimental data, even when applied in conjunction with rather modest basis sets. However, it is conjectured that the energetics of low-lying spin-states is beyond the capabilities of the DFT/B3LYP level, constituting a limitation to mechanistic studies of multinuclear oxomanganese complexes where until now the performance of DFT/B3LYP has raised little concern.

A Three-State Model for the Polymorphism in Linear Tricobalt Compounds

The remarkable polymorphism exhibited by the linear tricobalt compounds, Co3(mu3-dpa)4Cl2 and Co3(mu3-dpa)4Br2, can be explained using a model involving three distinct electronic states. At high temperatures, symmetric and unsymmetric forms arise from the population of doublet (2A) and quartet (4B) states, respectively, the latter containing a localized high-spin Co(II) center. In the unsymmetric form, a reduction in temperature leads to a spin-crossover to a second quite distinct doublet state, 2B, where, uniquely, the d(x2-y2) character on the localized Co(II) center is distributed between the occupied and vacant manifolds. The variable population of the Co d(x2-y2) orbital gives rise to the continuous change in Co-Co and Co-N bond lengths as the temperature is decreased.

Assessment of the performance of density-functional methods for calculations on iron porphyrins and related compounds

The behaviors of a large number of GGA, meta-GGA, and hybrid-GGA density functionals in describing the spin-state energetics of iron porphyrins and related compounds have been investigated. There is a large variation in performance between the various functionals for the calculations of the high-spin state relative energies. Most GGA and meta-GGA functionals are biased toward lower-spin states and so fail to give the correct ground state for the high-spin systems, for which the meta-GGA functionals show more or less improvement over the GGA ones. The GGA functionals that use the OPTX correction for exchange show remarkably high performance for calculating the high-spin state energetics, but their results for the intermediate-spin states are somewhat questionable. A heavily parameterized GGA functional, HCTH/407, provides results which are in qualitative agreement with the experimental findings for the iron porphyrins [FeP, FeP(Cl), FeP(THF)2], but its relative energies for the high-spin states are probably somewhat too low. The high-spin state relative energies are then even more underestimated by the corresponding meta-GGA functional tau-HCTH. For the hybrid-GGA functionals, the Hartree-Fock (HF)-type (or exact) exchange contribution strongly stabilizes the high-spin states, and so the performance of such functionals is largely dependent upon the amount of the HF exchange admixture in them. The B3LYP, B97, B97-1, and tau-HCTH-hyb functionals are able to provide a satisfactory description of the energetics of all the systems considered.

Computational Exploration of the Catalytic Mechanism of Dopamine β-Monooxygenase: Modeling of Its Mononuclear Copper Active Sites

Dopamine hydroxylation by the copper-superoxo, -hydroperoxo, and -oxo species of dopamine beta-monooxygenase (DBM) is investigated using theoretical calculations to identify the active species in its reaction and to reveal the key functions of the surrounding amino acid residues in substrate binding. A 3D model of rat DBM is constructed by homology modeling using the crystal structure of peptidylglycine alpha-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM) with a high sequence identity of 30% as a template. In the constructed 3D model, the CuA site in domain 1 is coordinated by three histidine residues, His265, His266, and His336, while the CuB site in domain 2 is coordinated by two histidine residues, His415 and His417, and by a methionine residue, Met490. The three Glu268, Glu369, and Tyr494 residues are suggested to play an important role in the substrate binding at the active site of DBM to enable the stereospecific hydrogen-atom abstraction. Quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) calculations are performed to determine the structure of the copper-superoxo, -hydroperoxo, and -oxo species in the whole-enzyme model with about 4700 atoms. The reactivity of the three oxidants is evaluated in terms of density-functional-theory calculations with small models extracted from the QM region of the whole-enzyme model.

Electronic Ground States of Iron Porphyrin and of the First Species in the Catalytic Reaction Cycle of Cytochrome P450s

Electronic structures of iron(II) and iron(III) porphyrins are studied with density functional theory (DFT) using the GGA exchange functional OPTX in combination with the correlation functional PBE (OPBE) and with the correlation functional Perdew (OPerdew) together with a triple zeta-type basis set. These functionals, known for accurately predicting the spin ground state of iron complexes, are evaluated against other functionals for their performance in calculating relative energies for the various electronic states of both the iron porphyrins. The calculated energy orderings are triplet < quintet < singlet for the iron(II) porphyrin and quartet < sextet < doublet for the iron(III) porphyrin cation. Complexation by a thiolate ion (SH-) changes the preferred ground state for both species to high spin. This thiolate complex is used as a mimic for the cytochrome P450s active site to model the first step of the catalytic cycle of this enzyme. This first step is believed to concern the removal of an axial oxygen donating ligand from the hexacoordinated aqua-thiolate-porphyrin-iron(III) resting state. The DFT results suggest that this is not a free water molecule, because of its repulsive nature, but that it has instead hydroxy anion character. These calculations are in line with the experimentally observed change in the spin state from low to high spin upon this removal of the axial hydroxo ligand by binding of the substrate in the heme pocket of cytochrome P450.

Benchmarking approximate density functional theory. I.s/d excitation energies in 3d transition metal cations

The performance of a number of different implementations of density functional theory (DFT) for predicting the s/d interconfigurational energies of the 3d transition metal cations is investigated. Systematic comparisons of computed results with experimental data indicate that gradient corrected correlation functionals, like the LYP GGA, efficiently correct the flaws of the LDA, but reveal shortcomings in the treatment of exchange by currently available GGAs. The admixture of exact exchange in hybrid functionals eventually leads to largely reduced errors. Several basis sets available for the 3d elements are tested in combination with the B3LYP functional. Finally, the influence of variations of the admixture of exact exchange is systematically tested. The results reveal that computed s/d excitation energies obtained for the individual ions depend in markedly different ways on the amount of exact exchange admixture and that there is no single optimal and transferable exchange parameter to create a hybrid functional that yields improved results for all ions alike. Several of the recently devised functionals perform as good as or slightly better than the B3LYP functional in the present study. But given the fact that the B3LYP functional has been identified as the most successful DFT method in an overwhelming number of systematic investigations in very many areas of chemical research, there is no persuasive motivation to recommend its replacement by one of the other functionals, as much less is known about their robustness.

The metal bonding domain of the antitumor drug Fe(II)-bleomycin: a DFT investigation

The geometric and electronic structure of ferrous complexes of bleomycin (Fe(II)BLM) has been investigated by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The active site of this antitumor drug is a highly distorted octahedral complex, with the coordination sphere completed by the five known endogenous ligands, including pyrimidine, imidazole, deprotonated amide, and secondary and primary amines. We have addressed the controversial issue of the nature of the sixth axial ligand, which we have identified as the oxygen of the carbamoyl group. Our conclusions are further validated by a comparison with structural data derived from NMR experiments. Moreover, because of the high sensitivity of structural data on the pH of the environment, we have investigated the effect of a different protonation state of the histidine amide on the geometric structure of the Fe(II)BLM complex. The extensive model of the active site of bleomycin considered in this work allows us to check the limitations of previous investigations based on simplified models.