Electronic Structure of a Cu(II)-Alkoxide Complex Modeling Intermediates in Copper-Catalyzed Alcohol Oxidations

Pulsed Multifrequency Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Reveals Key Branch Points for One- vs Two-Electron Reactivity in Mn/Fe Proteins

Traditionally, the ferritin-like superfamily of proteins was thought to exclusively use a diiron active site in catalyzing a diverse array of oxygen-dependent reactions. In recent years, novel redox-active cofactors featuring heterobimetallic Mn/Fe active sites have been discovered in both the radical-generating R2 subunit of class Ic (R2c) ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) and the related R2-like ligand-binding oxidases (R2lox). However, the protein-specific factors that differentiate the radical reactivity of R2c from the C-H activation reactions of R2lox remain unknown. In this work, multifrequency pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and ligand hyperfine techniques in conjunction with broken-symmetry density functional theory calculations are used to characterize the molecular and electronic structures of two EPR-active intermediates trapped during aerobic assembly of the R2lox Mn/Fe cofactor. A Mn^III(μ-O)(μ-OH)Fe^III species is identified as the first EPR-active species and represents a common state between the two classes of redox-active Mn/Fe proteins. The species downstream from the Mn^III(μ-O)(μ-OH)Fe^III state exhibits unique EPR properties, including unprecedented spectral breadth and isotope-dependent g-tensors, which are attributed to a weakly coupled, hydrogen-bonded Mn^III(μ-OH)Fe^III species. This final intermediate precedes formation of the Mn^III/Fe^III resting state and is suggested to be relevant to understanding the endogenous reactivity of R2lox.

Ligand Field Inversion as a Mechanism to Gate Bioorganometallic Reactivity: Investigating a Biochemical Model of Acetyl CoA Synthase Using Spectroscopy and Computation

The biological global carbon cycle is largely regulated through microbial nickel enzymes, including carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH), acetyl coenzyme A synthase (ACS), and methyl coenzyme M reductase (MCR). These systems are suggested to utilize organometallic intermediates during catalysis, though characterization of these species has remained challenging. We have established a mutant of nickel-substituted azurin as a scaffold upon which to develop protein-based models of enzymatic intermediates, including the organometallic states of ACS. In this work, we report the comprehensive investigation of the S = 1/2 Ni-CO and Ni-CH₃ states using pulsed EPR spectroscopy and computational techniques. While the Ni-CO state shows conventional metal-ligand interactions and a classical ligand field, the Ni-CH₃ hyperfine interactions between the methyl protons and the nickel indicate a closer distance than would be expected for an anionic methyl ligand. Structural analysis instead suggests a near-planar methyl ligand that can be best described as cationic. Consistent with this conclusion, the frontier molecular orbitals of the Ni-CH₃ species indicate a ligand-centered LUMO, with a d⁹ population on the metal center, rather than the d⁷ population expected for a typical metal-alkyl species generated by oxidative addition. Collectively, these data support the presence of an inverted ligand field configuration for the Ni-CH₃ Az species, in which the lowest unoccupied orbital is centered on the ligands rather than the more electropositive metal. These analyses provide the first evidence for an inverted ligand field within a biological system. The functional relevance of the electronic structures of both the Ni-CO and Ni-CH₃ species are discussed in the context of native ACS, and an inverted ligand field is proposed as a mechanism by which to gate reactivity both within ACS and in other thiolate-containing metalloenzymes.

Feasible and pure P2O5-CaO nanoglasses: An in-depth NMR study of synthesis for the modulation of the bioactive ion release

The use of bioactive glasses (e.g. silicates, phosphates, borates) has demonstrated to be an effective therapy for the restoration of bone fractures, wound healing and vascularization. Their partial dissolution towards the surrounding tissue has shown to trigger positive bioactive responses, without the necessity of using growth factors or cell therapy, which reduces money-costs, side effects and increases their translation to the clinics. However, bioactive glasses often need from stabilizers (e.g. SiO₄^4-, Ti⁴⁺, Co²⁺, etc.) that are not highly abundant in the body and which metabolization is not fully understood. In this study, we were focused on synthesizing pure calcium phosphate glasses without the presence of such stabilizers. We combined a mixture of ethylphosphate and calcium 2-methoxyethoxide to synthesize nanoparticles with different compositions and degradability. Synthesis was followed by an in-depth nuclear magnetic resonance characterization, complemented with other techniques that helped us to correlate the chemical structure of the glasses with their physiochemical properties and reaction mechanism. After synthesis, the organically modified xerogel (i.e. calcium monoethylphosphate) was treated at 200 or 350 °C and its solubility was maintained and controlled due to the elimination of organics, increase of phosphate-calcium interactions and phosphate polycondensation. To the best of our knowledge, we are reporting the first sol-gel synthesis of binary (P₂O₅-CaO) calcium phosphate glass nanoparticles in terms of continuous polycondensated phosphate chains structure without the addition of extra ions. The main goal is to straightforward the synthesis, to get a safer metabolization and to modulate the bioactive ion release. Additionally, we shed light on the chemical structure, reaction mechanism and properties of calcium phosphate glasses with high calcium contents, which nowadays are poorly understood. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: The use of bioactive inorganic materials (i.e. bioactive ceramics, glass-ceramics and glasses) for biomedical applications is attractive due to their good integration with the host tissue without the necessity of adding exogenous cells or growth factors. In particular, degradable calcium phosphate glasses are completely resorbable, avoiding the retention in the body of the highly stable silica network of silicate glasses, and inducing a more controllable degradability than bioactive ceramics. However, most calcium phosphate glasses include the presence of stabilizers (e.g. Ti⁴⁺, Na⁺, Co²⁺), which metabolization is not fully understood and complicates their synthesis. The development of binary calcium phosphate glasses with controlled degradability reduces these limitations, offering a simple and completely metabolizable material with higher transfer to the clinics.

Sterically directed nitronate complexes of 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-nitrophenoxide with Cu(ii) and Zn(ii) and their H-atom transfer reactivity

The bulky 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-nitrophenolate ligand forms complexes with [Tp^tBuCu^II]⁺ and [Tp^tBuZn^II]⁺ binding via the nitro group in an unusual nitronato-quinone resonance form (Tp^tBu = hydro-tris(3-tert-butyl-pyrazol-1-yl)borate).

Synthesis, Radical Reactivity, and Thermochemistry of Monomeric Cu(II) Alkoxide Complexes Relevant to Cu/Radical Alcohol Oxidation Catalysis

Two new monomeric Cu(II) alkoxide complexes were prepared and fully characterized as models for intermediates in copper/radical mediated alcohol oxidation catalysis: Tp(tBuR)Cu(II)OCH2CF3 with Tp(tBu) = hydro-tris(3-tert-butyl-pyrazol-1-yl)borate 1 or Tp(tBuMe) = hydro-tris(3-tert-butyl-5-methyl-pyrazol-1-yl)borate 2. These complexes were made as models for potential intermediates in enzymatic and synthetic catalytic cycles for alcohol oxidation. However, the alkoxide ligands are not readily oxidized by loss of H; instead, these complexes were found to be hydrogen atom acceptors. They oxidize the hydroxylamine TEMPOH, 2,4,6-tri-t-butylphenol, and 1,4-cyclohexadiene to the nitroxyl radical, phenoxyl radical, and benzene, with formation of HOCH2CF3 (TFE) and the Cu(I) complexes Tp(tBuR)Cu(I)-MeCN in dichloromethane/1% MeCN or 1/2 [Tp(tBuR)Cu(I)]2 in toluene. On the basis of thermodynamics and kinetics arguments, these reactions likely proceed through concerted proton-electron transfer mechanisms. Thermochemical analyses give lower limits for the "effective bond dissociation free energies (BDFE)" of the O-H bonds in 1/2[Tp(tBuR)Cu(I)]2 + TFE and upper limits for the free energies associated with alkoxide oxidations via hydrogen atom transfer (effective alkoxide α-C-H BDFEs). These values are summations of the free energies of multiple chemical steps, which include the energetically favorable formation of 1/2[Tp(tBuR)Cu(I)]2. The effective alkoxide α-C-H bonds are very weak, BDFE ≤ 38 ± 4 kcal mol(-1) for 1 and ≤44 ± 5 kcal mol(-1) for 2 (gas-phase estimates), because C-H homolysis is thermodynamically coupled to one electron transfer to Cu(II) as well as the favorable formation of the 1/2[Tp(tBuR)Cu(I)]2 dimer. Treating 1 with the H atom acceptor (t)Bu3ArO(•) did not result in the expected alkoxide oxidation to an aldehyde, but rather net 2,2,2-trifluoroethoxyl radical transfer occurred to generate an unusual 2-substituted dienone-ether product. Treating 2 with (t)Bu3ArO(•) gives no reaction, despite evidence that overall ligand oxidation and formation of 1/2[Tp(tBuMe)Cu(I)]2 is significantly exoergic. The origin of this lack of reactivity may be due to insufficient weakening of the alcohol α-C-H bond upon complexation to copper.

Aryl Group Transfer from Tetraarylborato Anions to an Electrophilic Dicopper(I) Center and Mixed-Valence μ-Aryl Dicopper(I,II) Complexes

The synthesis of discrete, cationic binuclear μ-aryl dicopper complexes [Cu2(μ-η(1):η(1)-Ar)DPFN]X (Ar = C6H5, 3,5-(CF3)2C6H3, and C6F5; DPFN = 2,7-bis(fluoro-di(2-pyridyl)methyl)-1,8-naphthyridine; X = BAr4(-) and NTf2(-); Tf = SO2CF3) was achieved by treatment of a dicopper complex [Cu2(μ-η(1):η(1)-NCCH3)DPFN]X2 (X = PF6(-) and NTf2(-)) with tetraarylborates. Structural characterization revealed symmetrically bridging aryl groups, and (1)H NMR spectroscopy evidenced the same structure in solution at 24 °C. Electrochemical investigation of the resulting arylcopper complexes uncovered reversible redox events that led to the synthesis and isolation of a rare mixed-valence organocopper complex [Cu2(μ-η(1):η(1)-Ph)DPFN](NTf2)2 in high yield. The solid-state structure of the mixed-valence μ-phenyl complex exhibits inequivalent copper centers, despite a short Cu···Cu distance. Electronic and variable-temperature electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy of the mixed-valence μ-phenyl complex suggest that the degree of spin localization is temperature-dependent, with a high degree of spin localization observed at lower temperatures. Electronic structure calculations agree with the experimental results and suggest that the spin is localized almost entirely on one metal center.