Reductive Activation of O2 by Non-Heme Iron(II) Benzilate Complexes of N4 Ligands: Effect of Ligand Topology on the Reactivity of O2-Derived Oxidant

Impact of Secondary Sphere Hydrogen Bonds on O2 Reactivity within a Nonheme Iron Complex

A nonheme iron complex bearing the tris(6-phenylamino-pyridyl)methylamine (TPANHPh) ligand with appended hydrogen bond (H-bond) groups displays facile O2 reactivity to form a monomeric Fe(III)OH complex, which can release •OH via rebound to a carbon radical. An analogous compound without H-bonds, based on tris(6-methylpyridyl)methylamine (TPAMe), exhibits minimal O2 reactivity, forming a Fe(III)2(μ-O)(μ-OH) dimer, which also reacts with carbon-based radicals. The H-bonding system enables O2 binding and activation at weakly reducing nonheme iron complexes, highlighting a cooperative role of secondary sphere units to facilitate reactions at atypical redox environments.

Enhanced Reactivities of Iron(IV)-Oxo Porphyrin Species in Oxidation Reactions Promoted by Intramolecular Hydrogen-Bonding

High-valent iron-oxo species are one of the common intermediates in both biological and biomimetic catalytic oxidation reactions. Recently, hydrogen-bonding (H-bonding) has been proved to be critical in determining the selectivity and reactivity. However, few examples have been established for mechanistic insights into the H-bonding effect. Moreover, intramolecular H-bonding effect on both C-H activation and oxygen atom transfer (OAT) reactions in synthetic porphyrin model system has not been investigated yet. In this study, a series of heme-containing iron(IV)-oxo porphyrin species with or without intramolecular H-bonding are synthesized and characterized. Kinetic studies revealed that intramolecular H-bonding can significantly enhance the reactivity of iron(IV)-oxo species in OAT, C-H activation, and electron-transfer reactions. This unprecedented unified H-bonding effect is elucidated by theoretical calculations, which showed that intramolecular H-bonding interactions lower the energy of the anti-bonding orbital of iron(IV)-oxo porphyrin species, resulting in the enhanced reactivities in oxidation reactions irrespective of the reaction type. To the best of the knowledge, this is the first extensive investigation on the intramolecular H-bonding effect in heme system. The results show that H-bonding interactions have a unified effect with iron(IV)-oxo porphyrin species in all three investigated reactions.

Dioxygen Reduction and Bioinspired Oxidations by Non-heme Iron(II)-α-Hydroxy Acid Complexes

Aerobic organisms involve dioxygen-activating iron enzymes to perform various metabolically relevant chemical transformations. Among these enzymes, mononuclear non-heme iron enzymes reductively activate dioxygen to catalyze diverse biological oxidations, including oxygenation of C-H and C═C bonds and C-C bond cleavage with amazing selectivity. Several non-heme enzymes utilize organic cofactors as electron sources for dioxygen reduction, leading to the generation of iron-oxygen intermediates that act as active oxidants in the catalytic cycle. These unique enzymatic reactions influence the design of small molecule synthetic compounds to emulate enzyme functions and to develop bioinspired catalysts for performing selective oxidation of organic substrates with dioxygen. Selective electron transfer during dioxygen reduction on iron centers of synthetic models by a sacrificial reductant requires appropriate design strategies. Taking lessons from the role of enzyme-cofactor complexes in the selective electron transfer process, our group utilized ternary iron(II)-α-hydroxy acid complexes supported by polydentate ligands for dioxygen reduction and bioinspired oxidations. This Account focuses on the role of coordinated sacrificial reductants in the selective electron transfer for dioxygen reduction by iron complexes and highlights the versatility of iron(II)-α-hydroxy acid complexes in affecting dioxygen-dependent oxidation/oxygenation reactions. The iron(II)-coordinated α-hydroxy acid anions undergo two-electron oxidative decarboxylation concomitant with the generation of reactive iron-oxygen oxidants. A nucleophilic iron(II)-hydroperoxo species was intercepted in the decarboxylation pathway. In the presence of a Lewis acid, the O-O bond of the nucleophilic oxidant is heterolytically cleaved to generate an electrophilic iron(IV)-oxo-hydroxo oxidant. Most importantly, the oxidants generated with or without Lewis acid can carry out cis-dihydroxylation of alkenes. Furthermore, the electrophilic iron-oxygen oxidant selectively hydroxylates strong C-H bonds. Another electrophilic iron(IV)-oxo oxidant, generated from the iron(II)-α-hydroxy acid complexes in the presence of a protic acid, carries out C-H bond halogenation by using a halide anion.Thus, different metal-oxygen intermediates could be generated from dioxygen using a single reductant, and the reactivity of the ternary complexes can be tuned using external additives (Lewis/protic acid). The catalytic potential of the iron(II)-α-hydroxy complexes in performing O2-dependent oxygenations has been demonstrated. Different factors that govern the reactivity of iron-oxygen oxidants from ternary iron(II) complexes are presented. The versatile reactivity of the oxidants provides useful insights into developing catalytic methods for the selective incorporation of oxidized functionalities under environmentally benign conditions using aerial oxygen as the terminal oxidant.

Selective Metal-ion Complexation of a Biomimetic Calix[6]arene Funnel Cavity Functionalized with Phenol or Quinone

In the biomimetic context, many studies have evidenced the importance of the 1^st and 2^nd coordination sphere of a metal ion for controlling its properties. Here, we propose to evaluate a yet poorly explored aspect, which is the nature of the cavity that surrounds the metal labile site. Three calix[6]arene-based aza-ligands are compared, that differ only by the nature of cavity walls, anisole, phenol or quinone (L^OMe , L^OH and L^Q ). Monitoring ligand exchange of their Zn^II complexes evidenced important differences in the metal ion relative affinities for nitriles, halides or carboxylates. It also showed a possible sharp kinetic control on both, metal ion binding and ligand exchange. Hence, this study supports the observations reported on biological systems, highlighting that the substitution of an amino-acid residue of the enzyme active site, at remote distance of the metal ion, can have strong impacts on metal ion lability, substrate/product exchange or selectivity.

Iron(II)-α-keto acid complexes of tridentate ligands on gold nanoparticles: the effect of ligand geometry and immobilization on their dioxygen-dependent reactivity

Two mononuclear nonheme iron(II)-benzoylformate (BF) complexes [(6Me₂-Me-BPA)Fe(BF)](ClO₄) (1a) and [(6Me₃-TPMM)Fe(BF)](ClO₄) (1b) of tridentate nitrogen donor ligands, bis((6-methylpyridin-2-yl)methyl)(N-methyl)amine (6Me₂-Me-BPA) and tris(2-(6-methyl)pyridyl)methoxymethane (6Me₃-TPMM), were isolated and characterized. The structural characterization of iron(II)-chloro complexes indicates that the ligand 6Me₂-Me-BPA binds to the iron(II) centre in a meridional fashion, whereas 6Me₃-TPMM behaves as a facial ligand. Both the ligands were functionalized with terminal thiol for immobilization on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), and the corresponding iron(II) complexes [(6Me₂-BPASH)Fe(BF)(ClO₄)]@C₈Au (2a) and [(6Me₃-TPMSH)Fe(BF)(ClO₄)]@C₈Au (2b) were prepared to probe the effect of immobilization on their ability to perform bioinspired oxidation reactions. All the complexes react with dioxygen to display the oxidative decarboxylation of the coordinated benzoylformate, but the complexes supported by 6Me₃-TPMM and its thiol-appended ligand display faster reactivity compared to their analogues with the 6Me₂-Me-BPA-derived ligands. In each case, an electrophilic iron-oxygen oxidant was intercepted as the active oxidant generated from dioxygen. The immobilized complexes (2a and 2b) display enhanced O₂-dependent reactivity in oxygen-atom transfer reactions (OAT) and hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT) reactions compared to their homogeneous congeners (1a and 1b). Furthermore, the immobilized complex 2b displays catalytic OAT reactions. This study supports that the ligand geometry and immobilization on AuNPs influence the dioxygen-dependent reactivity of the complexes.

Dioxygen Activation and Mandelate Decarboxylation by Iron(II) Complexes of N4 Ligands: Evidence for Dioxygen-Derived Intermediates from Cobalt Analogues

The isolation, characterization, and dioxygen reactivity of monomeric [(TPA)M^II(mandelate)]⁺ (M = Fe, 1; Co, 3) and dimeric [(BPMEN)₂M^II₂(μ-mandelate)₂]²⁺ (M = Fe, 2; Co, 4) (TPA = tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine and BPMEN = N¹,N²-dimethyl-N¹,N²-bis(pyridin-2-yl-methyl)ethane-1,2-diamine) complexes are reported. The iron(II)- and cobalt(II)-mandelate complexes react with dioxygen to afford benzaldehyde and benzoic acid in a 1:1 ratio. In the reactions, one oxygen atom from dioxygen is incorporated into benzoic acid, but benzaldehyde does not derive any oxygen atom from dioxygen. While no O₂-derived intermediate is observed with the iron(II)-mandelate complexes, the analogous cobalt(II) complexes react with dioxygen at a low temperature (-80 °C) to generate the corresponding cobalt(III)-superoxo species (S), a key intermediate implicated in the initiation of mandelate decarboxylation. At -20 °C, the cobalt(II)-mandelate complexes bind dioxygen reversibly leading to the formation of μ-1,2-peroxo-dicobalt(III)-mandelate species (P). The geometric and electronic structures of the O₂-derived intermediates (S and P) have been established by computational studies. The intermediates S and P upon treatment with a protic acid undergo decarboxylation to afford benzaldehyde (50%) with a concomitant formation of the corresponding μ-1,2-peroxo-μ-mandelate-dicobalt(III) (P1) species. The crystal structure of a peroxide species isolated from the cobalt(II)-carboxylate complex [(TPA)Co^II(MPA)]⁺ (5) (MPA = 2-methoxyphenylacetate) supports the composition of P1. The observations of the dioxygen-derived intermediates from cobalt complexes and their electronic structure analyses not only provide information about the nature of active species involved in the decarboxylation of mandelate but also shed light on the mechanistic pathway of two-electron versus four-electron reduction of dioxygen.

Selective oxygenation of C-H and CC bonds with H2O2 by high-spin cobalt(II)-carboxylate complexes

Four cobalt(II)-carboxylate complexes [(6-Me₃-TPA)Co^II(benzoate)](BPh₄) (1), [(6-Me₃-TPA)Co^II(benzilate)](ClO₄) (2), [(6-Me₃-TPA)Co^II(mandelate)](BPh₄) (3), and [(6-Me₃-TPA)Co^II(MPA)](BPh₄) (4) (HMPA = 2-methoxy-2-phenylacetic acid) of the 6-Me₃-TPA (tris((6-methylpyridin-2-yl)methyl)amine) ligand were isolated to investigate their ability in H₂O₂-dependent selective oxygenation of C-H and CC bonds. All six-coordinate complexes contain a high-spin cobalt(II) center. While the cobalt(II) complexes are inert toward dioxygen, each of these complexes reacts readily with hydrogen peroxide to form a diamagnetic cobalt(III) species, which decays with time leading to the oxidation of the methyl groups on the pyridine rings of the supporting ligand. Intramolecular ligand oxidation by the cobalt-based oxidant is partially inhibited in the presence of external substrates, and the substrates are converted to their corresponding oxidized products. Kinetic studies and labelling experiments indicate the involvement of a metal-based oxidant in affecting the chemo- and stereo-selective catalytic oxygenation of aliphatic C-H bonds and epoxidation of alkenes. An electrophilic cobalt-oxygen species that exhibits a kinetic isotope effect (KIE) value of 5.3 in toluene oxidation by 1 is proposed as the active oxidant. Among the complexes, the cobalt(II)-benzoate (1) and cobalt(II)-MPA (4) complexes display better catalytic activity compared to their α-hydroxy analogues (2 and 3). Catalytic studies with the cobalt(II)-acetonitrile complex [(6-Me₃-TPA)Co^II(CH₃CN)₂](ClO₄)₂ (5) in the presence and absence of externally added benzoate support the role of the carboxylate co-ligand in oxidation reactions. The proposed catalytic reaction involves a carboxylate-bridged dicobalt complex in the activation of H₂O₂ followed by the oxidation of substrates by a metal-based oxidant.

Which is the real oxidant in the competitive ligand self-hydroxylation and substrate oxidation, a biomimetic iron(II)-hydroperoxo species or an oxo-iron(IV)-hydroxy one?

Nonheme iron(II)-hydroperoxo species (FeII-(η2-OOH)) 1 and the concomitant oxo-iron(IV)-hydroxyl one 2 are proposed as the key intermediates of a large class of 2-oxoglutarate dependent dioxygenases (e.g., isopenicillin N synthase). Extensive...

Iron-Based Catalytically Active Complexes in Preparation of Functional Materials

Iron complexes are particularly interesting as catalyst systems over the other transition metals (including noble metals) due to iron’s high natural abundance and mediation in important biological processes, therefore making them non-toxic, cost-effective, and biocompatible. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis mediated by iron as a transition metal have found applications in many industries, including oxidation, C-C bond formation, hydrocarboxylation and dehydration, hydrogenation and reduction reactions of low molecular weight molecules. These processes provided substrates for industrial-scale use, e.g., switchable materials, sustainable and scalable energy storage technologies, drugs for the treatment of cancer, and high molecular weight polymer materials with a predetermined structure through controlled radical polymerization techniques. This review provides a detailed statement of the utilization of homogeneous and heterogeneous iron-based catalysts for the synthesis of both low and high molecular weight molecules with versatile use, focusing on receiving functional materials with high potential for industrial application.

Effect of Ligand Fields on the Reactivity of O2 -Activating Iron(II)-Benzilate Complexes of Neutral N5 Donor Ligands

Three new iron(II)-benzilate complexes [(N4Py)Fe^II (benzilate)]ClO₄ (1), [(N4Py^Me2 )Fe^II (benzilate)]ClO₄ (2) and [(N4Py^Me4 )Fe^II (benzilate)]ClO₄ (3) of neutral pentadentate nitrogen donor ligands have been isolated and characterized to study their dioxygen reactivity. Single-crystal X-ray structures reveal a mononuclear six-coordinate iron(II) center in each case, where benzilate binds to the iron center in monodentate mode via one carboxylate oxygen. Introduction of methyl groups in the 6-positions of the pyridine rings makes the N4Py^Me2 and N4Py^Me4 ligand fields weaker compared to that of the parent N4Py ligand. All the complexes (1-3) react with dioxygen to decarboxylate the coordinated benzilate to benzophenone quantitatively. The decarboxylation is faster for the complex of the more sterically hindered ligand and follows the order 3>2>1. The complexes display oxygen atom transfer reactivity to thioanisole and also exhibit hydrogen atom transfer reactions with substrates containing weak C-H bonds. Based on interception studies with external substrates, labelling experiments and Hammett analysis, a nucleophilic iron(II)-hydroperoxo species is proposed to form upon two-electron reductive activation of dioxygen by each iron(II)-benzilate complex. The nucleophilic oxidants are converted to the corresponding electrophilic iron(IV)-oxo oxidant upon treatment with a protic acid. The high-spin iron(II)-benzilate complex with the weakest ligand field results in the formation of a more reactive iron-oxygen oxidant.

Oxidative C-N bond cleavage of (2-pyridylmethyl)amine-based tetradentate supporting ligands in ternary cobalt(ii)-carboxylate complexes

Three mononuclear cobalt(ii)-carboxylate complexes, [(TPA)Co^II(benzilate)]⁺ (1), [(TPA)Co^II(benzoate)]⁺ (2) and [(iso-BPMEN)Co^II(benzoate)]⁺ (3), of N4 ligands (TPA = tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine and iso-BPMEN = N¹,N¹-dimethyl-N²,N²-bis((pyridin-2-yl)methyl)ethane-1,2-diamine) were isolated to investigate their reactivity toward dioxygen. Monodentate (η¹) binding of the carboxylates to the metal centre favours the five-coordinate cobalt(ii) complexes (1-3) for dioxygen activation. Complex 1 slowly reacts with dioxygen to enable the oxidative decarboxylation of the coordinated α-hydroxy acid (benzilate). Prolonged exposure of the reaction solution of 2 to dioxygen results in the formation of [(DPA)Co^III(picolinate)(benzoate)]⁺ (4) and [Co^III(BPCA)₂]⁺ (5) (DPA = di(2-picolyl)amine and HBPCA = bis(2-pyridylcarbonyl)amide), whereas only [(DPEA)Co^III(picolinate)(benzoate)]⁺ (6) (DPEA = N¹,N¹-dimethyl-N²-(pyridine-2-ylmethyl)-ethane-1,2-diamine) is isolated from the final oxidised solution of 3. The modified ligand DPA (or DPEA) is formed via the oxidative C-N bond cleavage of the supporting ligands. Further oxidation of the -CH₂- moiety to -C([double bond, length as m-dash]O)- takes place in the transformation of DPA to HBPCA on the cobalt(ii) centre. Labelling experiments with ¹⁸O₂ confirm the incorporation of oxygen atoms from molecular oxygen into the oxidised products. Mixed labelling studies with ¹⁶O₂ and H₂O¹⁸ strongly support the involvement of water in the C-N bond cleavage pathway. A comparison of the dioxygen reactivity of the cobalt complexes (1-3) with those of several other five-coordinate mononuclear complexes [(TPA)Co^II(X)]^+/2+ (X = Cl, CH₃CN, acetate, benzoylformate, salicylate and phenylpyruvate) establishes the role of the carboxylate co-ligands in the activation of dioxygen and subsequent oxidative cleavage of the supporting ligands by a metal-oxygen oxidant.

Oxidizing Ability of a Dioxygen-Activating Nonheme Iron(II)-Benzilate Complex Immobilized on Gold Nanoparticles

An iron(II)-benzilate complex [(TPASH)Fe^II(benzilate)]ClO₄@C₈Au (2) (TPASH = 11-((6-((bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino)methyl)pyridin-2-yl)methoxy)undecane-1-thiol) immobilized on octanethiol stabilized gold nanoparticles (C₈Au) of core diameter less than 5 nm has been prepared to evaluate its reactivity toward O₂-dependent oxidations compared to a nonimmobilized complex [(TPA-O-Allyl)Fe^II(benzilate)]ClO₄ (1a) (TPA-O-Allyl = N-((6-(allyloxymethyl)pyridin-2-yl)methyl)(pyridin-2-yl)- N-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)methanamine). X-ray crystal structure of the nonimmobilized complex 1a reveals a six-coordinate iron(II) center in which the TPA-O-Allyl acts as a pentadentate ligand and the benzilate anion binds in monodentate fashion. Both the complexes (1a and 2) react with dioxygen under ambient conditions to form benzophenone as the sole product through decarboxylation of the coordinated benzilate. Interception studies reveal that a nucleophilic iron-oxygen intermediate is formed in the decarboxylation reaction. The oxidants from both the complexes are able to carry out oxo atom transfer reactions. The immobilized complex 2 not only performs faster decarboxylation but also exhibits enhanced reactivity in oxo atom transfer to sulfides. Importantly, the immobilized complex 2, unlike 1a, displays catalytic turnovers in sulfide oxidation. However, the complexes are not efficient to carry out cis-dihydroxylation of alkenes. Although the immobilized complex yields a slightly higher amount of cis-diol from 1-octene, restricted access of dioxygen and substrates at the coordinatively saturated metal centers of the complexes likely makes the resulting iron-oxygen species less active in oxygen atom transfer to alkenes. The results implicate that surface immobilized nonheme iron complexes containing accessible coordination sites would exhibit better reactivity in O₂-dependent oxygenation reactions.

Dioxygen reactivity of iron(ii)–gentisate/1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoate complexes of N4 ligands: oxidative coupling of 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoate

Oxidative C–C coupling of iron-coordinated co-ligand: Iron(ii)-1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoate complexes of neutral N4 ligands react with dioxygen to display C–C coupling of 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoate.

Substituents drive ligand rearrangements, giving dinuclear rather than mononuclear complexes, and tune CoII/III redox potential

Three new tetradentate imine ligands, HLHBr, HLClH and HLBrH (HLR1R2) were synthesised by 2 : 1 condensation of the appropriately n-halo substituted pyridine-2-carboxaldehyde (5-bromo-4a, 6-bromo-4b or 6-chloro-4c) with 1,3-diaminopropan-2-ol (5). Reactions of each of these three ligands with one equivalent of cobalt(ii) tetrafluoroborate resulted in the formation of three N4O2 coordinated cobalt(ii) complexes: the anticipated mononuclear complex [CoII(HLHBr)(MeOH)2](BF4)2 (1), and two unexpected dinuclear complexes, [CoII2(LBrH-BF2OMe)]2(BF4)2 (2) and [CoII2(LClH-BF2OMe)]2(BF4)2 (3). Dinuclear 2 and 3 result from complexation of cobalt(ii) to the ligands derived from the sterically demanding 6-halo substituted pyridine-2-carboxaldehydes (4b and 4c) undergoing rearrangement, reacting with MeOH and a BF4 anion, resulting in a pair of borate ester bridges between the two cobalt(ii) centres. A similar type of rearrangement is proposed for the PF6 analogues. Cyclic voltammetry in acetonitrile reveals that cobalt(ii) complexes 1-3 undergo a quasi-reversible oxidation: Em = 0.57, 0.38 and 0.29 V vs. 0.01 AgNO3/Ag, respectively. The observed Em value is tuned by the ligand, with the 6-chloro-substituent leading to the lowest Em value being observed for the corresponding cobalt complex, 3, rather than for either of the complexes of the n-bromo-substituted ligands (n = 6 or 5), 2 and 1.

Aerial dioxygen activation vs. thiol–ene click reaction within a system

By choosing appropriate reaction systems using solvents with additives or solvent free neat conditions, any one of the Markovnikov or anti-Markovnikov selective thiol–ene click (TEC) reactions and the synthesis of β-hydroxysulfides via aerial dioxygen activation could be achieved exclusively in excellent yields.