Ultrafast Excited State Dynamics and Fluorescence from Vitamin B12 and Organometallic [Co]-C≡C-R Cobalamins

Deciphering Photoinduced Catalytic Reaction Mechanisms in Natural and Artificial Photosynthetic Systems on Multiple Temporal and Spatial Scales Using X-ray Probes

Utilization of renewable energies for catalytically generating value-added chemicals is highly desirable in this era of rising energy demands and climate change impacts. Artificial photosynthetic systems or photocatalysts utilize light to convert abundant CO2, H2O, and O2 to fuels, such as carbohydrates and hydrogen, thus converting light energy to storable chemical resources. The emergence of intense X-ray pulses from synchrotrons, ultrafast X-ray pulses from X-ray free electron lasers, and table-top laser-driven sources over the past decades opens new frontiers in deciphering photoinduced catalytic reaction mechanisms on the multiple temporal and spatial scales. Operando X-ray spectroscopic methods offer a new set of electronic transitions in probing the oxidation states, coordinating geometry, and spin states of the metal catalytic center and photosensitizers with unprecedented energy and time resolution. Operando X-ray scattering methods enable previously elusive reaction steps to be characterized on different length scales and time scales. The methodological progress and their application examples collected in this review will offer a glimpse into the accomplishments and current state in deciphering reaction mechanisms for both natural and synthetic systems. Looking forward, there are still many challenges and opportunities at the frontier of catalytic research that will require further advancement of the characterization techniques.

Vibronic Coupling in Vitamin B12: A Combined Spectroscopic and Computational Study

Understanding the diverse reactivities of vitamin B12 and its derivatives, collectively called cobalamins, requires detailed knowledge of their geometric and electronic structures. Electronic absorption (Abs) and resonance Raman (rR) spectroscopies have proven invaluable in this area, particularly when used in concert with computational techniques such as density functional theory (DFT). There remain, however, lingering uncertainties in the computational description of electronic excited states of cobalamins, particularly surrounding the vibronic coupling that impacts the Abs bandshapes and gives rise to rR enhancement of vibrational modes. Past computational analyses of the vibrational spectra of cobalamins have either neglected rR enhancement or calculated rR enhancement for only a small number of modes. In the present study, we used the recently developed ORCA_ASA computational tool in conjunction with the popular B3LYP and BP86 functionals to predict Abs bandshapes and rR spectra for vitamin B12. The ORCA_ASA/B3LYP-computed Abs envelope in the visible spectral region and rR spectra of vitamin B12 agree remarkably well with our experimental data, while BP86 fails to reproduce both. This finding represents a significant advance in our understanding of how these two commonly used density functionals differently model the electronic properties of cobalamins. Guided by the computed frequencies for the Co-C stretching and Co-C-N bending modes, we identified, for the first time, isotope-sensitive features in our rR spectra of 12CNCbl and 13CNCbl that can be assigned to these modes. A normal coordinate analysis of the experimentally determined Co-C stretching and Co-C-N bending frequencies indicates that the Co-C force constant for vitamin B12 is 2.67 mdyn/Å, considerably larger than the Co-C force constants reported for alkylcobalamins.

The inorganic chemistry of the cobalt corrinoids - an update

The inorganic chemistry of the cobalt corrinoids, derivatives of vitamin B₁₂, is reviewed, with particular emphasis on equilibrium constants for, and kinetics of, their axial ligand substitution reactions. The role the corrin ligand plays in controlling and modifying the properties of the metal ion is emphasised. Other aspects of the chemistry of these compounds, including their structure, corrinoid complexes with metals other than cobalt, the redox chemistry of the cobalt corrinoids and their chemical redox reactions, and their photochemistry are discussed. Their role as catalysts in non-biological reactions and aspects of their organometallic chemistry are briefly mentioned. Particular mention is made of the role that computational methods - and especially DFT calculations - have played in developing our understanding of the inorganic chemistry of these compounds. A brief overview of the biological chemistry of the B₁₂-dependent enzymes is also given for the reader's convenience.

Electronic structure studies of free and enzyme-bound B12 species by magnetic circular dichroism and complementary spectroscopic techniques

Electronic absorption (Abs) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic techniques have been used successfully for over half a century in studies of free and enzyme-bound B₁₂ species. More recently, magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy and other complementary techniques have provided an increasingly detailed understanding of the electronic structure of cobalamins. While CD spectroscopy measures the difference in the absorption of left- and right-circularly polarized light, MCD spectroscopy adds the application of a magnetic field parallel to the direction of light propagation. Transitions that are formally forbidden according to the Abs and CD selection rules, such as ligand field (or d→d) transitions, can gain MCD intensity through spin-orbit coupling. As such, MCD spectroscopy provides a uniquely sensitive probe of the different binding modes, Co oxidation states, and axial ligand environments of B₁₂ species in enzyme active sites, and thus the distinct reactivities displayed by these species. This chapter summarizes representative MCD studies of free and enzyme-bound B₁₂ species, including those present in adenosyltransferases, isomerases, and reductive dehalogenases. Complementary spectroscopic and computational data are also presented and discussed where appropriate.

Antivitamins B12 -Some Inaugural Milestones

The recently delineated structure- and reactivity-based concept of antivitamins B12 has begun to bear fruit by the generation, and study, of a range of such B12 -dummies, either vitamin B12 -derived, or transition metal analogues that also represent potential antivitamins B12 or specific B12 -antimetabolites. As reviewed here, this has opened up new research avenues in organometallic B12 -chemistry and bioinorganic coordination chemistry. Exploratory studies with antivitamins B12 have, furthermore, revealed some of their potential, as pharmacologically interesting compounds, for inducing B12 -deficiency in a range of organisms, from hospital resistant bacteria to laboratory mice. The derived capacity of antivitamins B12 to induce functional B12 -deficiency in mammalian cells and organs also suggest their valuable potential as growth inhibitors of cancerous human and animal cells.