Dynamics of CO Binding to Lacunar Iron(II) Cyclidene Complexes

Electronic effects on carbon monoxide dissociation from iron(II) tetraphenylporhyrins

We report the kinetics of CO binding to a series of substituted ferrous tetra(4-X-phenyl)porphyrins ( X = CF 3, Cl , H , CH 3, OCH 3) in DMSO solvent using a mixture of 1,2-DMI/1-MeIm as proximal base. The CO dissociation rate constant increases with electron donation of the substituent X; the aggregate Hammett ρ value is -0.38. Using a Swain-Lupton analysis we determine the electronic effects to be transmitted 67% by through-bond or field effect and 33% by resonance. These results indicate that there is significant conjugation between the phenyl rings and the porphyrin core of iron tetraphenylporphyrin systems.

Multivalent Macrocyclic Hosts: Histone Surface Recognition, Guest Binding, and Delivery by Cyclophane-Based Resorcinarene Oligomers

As a new class of host for both specific proteins and hydrophobic molecular guests, cyclophane-based resorcinarene oligomers were designed on the basis of a molecular design that allows the assembly of four or 12 anionic resorcinarenes on a cyclophane skeleton. We prepared a cyclophane-based resorcinarene tetramer (4), constructed with a tetraaza[6.1.6.1]-paracyclophane skeleton and four resorcinarenes bearing heptacarboxylic acid residues that connect to the macrocycle through amide linkages. In addition, we prepared an extended analogical dodecamer (12), which was constructed with a pentakis(cyclophane) skeleton and 12 resorcinarenes. The cyclophane-based resorcinarene oligomers exhibited potent recognition capabilities toward histone, a small basic protein of eukaryotic chromatins. The binding constants (K) of cyclophane-based resorcinarene tetramer 4 and dodecamer 12 with histone were determined to be 1.3x107 and 8.4x107 M-1, respectively, by means of surface plasmon resonance measurements. The K values of 4 and 12 with histone were 31- and 200-fold larger than that of an untethered reference resorcinarene, reflecting the multivalency effects in resorcinarenes. In addition to that, cyclophane-based resorcinarene tetramer 4 and dodecamer 12 captured hydrophobic guests such as 6-p-toluidinonaphthalene-2-sulfonate, with respective binding constants of 2.4x103 and 2.5x104 M-1 in an aqueous HEPES buffer as evaluated by fluorescence spectroscopy. Furthermore, the resorcinarene oligomers were also found to act as guest carriers from the bulk aqueous phase to histone surfaces, as confirmed by fluorescence spectroscopy.

Ligand binding inside the cavities of lacunar and saddle-shaped cyclidene complexes: molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics studies

Cobalt(II) complexes with tetradentate macrocyclic cyclidene ligands are known to coordinate one additional axial base molecule, leaving the sixth vacant coordination site at the metal ion available for small ligand (e.g., O2) binding. Molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics simulations provide a microscopic view of 1-methylimidazole (MeIm) binding within the cavities of several lacunar (bridged) and saddle-shaped (unbridged) cyclidenes and uncover the roles of the bridges and the walls of the clefts in steric protection of the cobalt(II) coordination site. Short bridges (C3 and C6) prevent inside-the-cavity MeIm binding because of severe ligand distortions leading to high-energy penalties (58 and 25 kcal/mol, respectively), while long bridges (C8 and C12) flip away from the MeIm binding site, allowing for penalty-free MeIm inclusion. In the unbridged saddle-shaped complex, there is no energy difference between inside- and outside-the-cavity MeIm binding. The preferential existence of the coordinatively unsaturated, five-coordinate species Co(unbrCyc)(MeIm)2+ should therefore be explained by electronic, rather than steric, factors. Molecular dynamics and free energy simulations reveal the presence of a weak (ca. 4 kcal/mol in the gas phase and ca. 2 kcal/mol in methanol solution) noncovalent MeIm binding site at the entrance of the cleft of cobalt(II) unbridged cyclidene, at a distance of about 4 A from the metal ion. The macrocycle geometry remains undistorted at such large Co-N(MeIm) separations, while the cavity opens up by 0.9 A upon covalent MeIm binding (Co-N(MeIm) distance of 2 A). An increase in macrocycle strain energy upon MeIm inclusion is compensated by favorable nonbonded interactions between the incoming base and the walls of the unbridged cyclidene.