Computational Study of the Effect of the Imidazole Ring Orientation on the EPR Parameters for Vanadyl−Imidazole Complexes

Application of DFT methods to the study of the coordination environment of the VO2+ ion in V proteins

Density functional theory (DFT) methods were used to simulate the environment of vanadium in several V proteins, such as vanadyl-substituted carboxypeptidase (sites A and B), vanadyl-substituted chloroplast F(1)-ATPase (CF(1); site 3), the reduced inactive form of vanadium bromoperoxidase (VBrPO; low- and high-pH sites), and vanadyl-substituted imidazole glycerol phosphate dehydratase (IGPD; sites α, β, and γ). Structural, electron paramagnetic resonance, and electron spin echo envelope modulation parameters were calculated and compared with the experimental values. All the simulations were performed in water within the framework of the polarizable continuum model. The angular dependence of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] on the dihedral angle θ between the V=O and N-C bonds and on the angle φ between the V=O and V-N bonds, where N is the coordinated aromatic nitrogen atom, was also found. From the results it emerges that it is possible to model the active site of a vanadium protein through DFT methods and determine its structure through the comparison between the calculated and experimental spectroscopic parameters. The calculations confirm that the donor sets of sites B and A of vanadyl-substituted carboxypeptidase are [[Formula: see text], H(2)O, H(2)O, H(2)O] and [N(His)(||), N(His)(⊥), [Formula: see text], H(2)O], and that the donor set of site 3 of CF(1)-ATPase is [[Formula: see text], OH(Thr), H(2)O, H(2)O, [Formula: see text]]. For VBrPO, the coordination modes [N(His)(||), N(His)(∠), OH(Ser), H(2)O, H(2)O(ax)] for the low-pH site and [N(His)(||), N(His)(∠), OH(Ser), OH(-), H(2)O(ax)] or [N(His)(||), N(His)(∠), [Formula: see text], H(2)O] for the high-pH site, with an imidazole ring of histidine strongly displaced from the equatorial plane, can be proposed. Finally, for sites α, β, and γ of IGPD, the subsequent deprotonation of one, two, and three imidazole rings of histidine and the participation of a carboxylate group of a glutamate residue ([N(His)(||), [Formula: see text], H(2)O, H(2)O], [N(His)(||), N(His)(||), [Formula: see text], H(2)O], and [N(His)(||), N(His)(||), [Formula: see text], OH(-), [Formula: see text]], respectively) seems to be the most plausible hypothesis.

Aspects of structure and bonding in copper-amino acid complexes revealed by single-crystal EPR/ENDOR spectroscopy and density functional calculations

This work deduces from a series of well-defined copper-doped amino acid crystals, relationships between structural features of the copper complexes, and ligand-bound proton hyperfine parameters. These were established by combining results from electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)/electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) studies, crystallography, and were further assessed by quantum mechanical (QM) calculations. A detailed evaluation of previous studies on Cu(2+) doped into alpha-glycine, triglycine sulfate, alpha-glycylglycine, and L-alanine crystals reveal correlations between geometric features of the copper sites and proton hyperfine couplings from amino-bound and carbon-bound hydrogens. Experimental variations in proton isotropic hyperfine coupling values (a(iso)) could be fit to cosine-square dependences on dihedral angles, namely, for C(alpha)-bound hydrogens, a(iso) = -1.09 + 8.21 cos(2) theta MHz, and for amino hydrogens, a(iso) = -6.16 + 4.15 cos(2) phi MHz. For the C(alpha) hydrogens, this dependency suggests a hyperconjugative-like mechanism for transfer of spin density into the hydrogen 1s orbital. In the course of this work, it was also necessary to reanalyze the ENDOR measurements from Cu(2+)-doped alpha-glycine because the initial study determined the (14)N coupling parameters without holding its nuclear quadrupole tensor traceless. This new treatment of the data was needed to correctly align the (14)N hyperfine tensor principal directions in the molecular complex. To provide a theoretical basis for the coupling variations, QM calculations performed at the DFT level were used to compute the proton hyperfine tensors in the four crystal complexes as well as in a geometry-optimized Cu(2+)(glycine)(2) model. These theoretical calculations confirmed systematic changes in couplings with dihedral angles but greatly overestimated the experimental geometric sensitivity to the amino hydrogen isotropic coupling.

Potentiometric, spectroscopic, electrochemical and DFT characterization of oxovanadium(IV) complexes formed by citrate and tartrates in aqueous solution at high ligand to metal molar ratios: the effects of the trigonal bipyramidal distortion in bis-chelated species and biological implications

The complexation of VO(IV) ion with citrate (L3-), D-, L- and DL-tartrate (L2-) at high ligand to metal molar ratios was studied in aqueous solution through the combined application of potentiometric, spectroscopic (UV-vis and EPR) and electrochemical (cyclic voltammetry) techniques. Unlike in equimolar solution, mononuclear and not dinuclear species are formed with the binding of carboxylate-COO- and alcoholate-O- donors yielding mono- and bis-chelated species with VOLH, VOL, VOLH(-1) and VOL2H(-2) composition; for tartrates also the "sugar-like" (O-, O-) coordination is involved in the vanadium binding at basic pH values giving rise to the formation of VOL2H(-3) and VOL2H(-4) complexes. Among the species formed, VOL2H(-2) is characterised by a strong distortion towards the trigonal bipyramid with the two V-O(alcoholate) bonds in the equatorial and the two V-O(carboxylate) bonds in the axial positions. The geometry and electronic absorption spectra of such complexes were simulated by DFT methods and it was found that in aqueous solution the distortion follows the steric hindrance of the substituents on the alpha-carbon atom and the hydrophobicity of the ligands. The results were compared with those displayed by simple alpha-hydroxycarboxylates (glycolate, 2-hydroxyisobutyrate, 2-ethyl-2-hydroxybutyrate and benzilate). The trigonal bipyramidal distortion was correlated with the values of: i) Deltalambda = lambda2-lambda3, where lambda2 and lambda3 are the central bands in the electronic absorption spectrum; ii) |A(x)-A(y)|, where A(x) and A(y) are the 51V hyperfine coupling constants along the x and y axes in the anisotropic EPR spectrum; iii) the half-wave potential E(1/2) of oxidation of VO(IV) to the corresponding VO2(V) species in the cyclic voltammogram. Finally, a discussion on the possible form of VO(IV)-citrate complexes in blood serum is presented, where it is found that the most relevant species under physiological conditions should be [VO(citrH(-1))]2-.

Copper binding sites in the C-terminal domain of mouse prion protein: A hybrid (QM/MM) molecular dynamics study

We present a hybrid QM/MM Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics study of the copper-loaded C-terminal domain of the mouse prion protein. By means of a statistical analysis of copper coordination in known protein structures, we localized the protein regions with the highest propensity for copper ion binding. The identified candidate structures were subsequently refined via QM/MM simulations. Their EPR characteristics were computed to make contact with the experimental data and to probe the sensitivity to structural and chemical changes. Overall best agreement with the experimental EPR data (Van Doorslaer et al., J Phys Chem B 2001; 105: 1631-1639) and the information currently available in the literature is observed for a binding site involving H187. Moreover, a reinterpretation of the experimental proton hyperfine couplings was possible in the light of the present computational findings.

Synthesis, Characterization, Reactivity, and Catalytic Potential of Model Vanadium(IV, V) Complexes with Benzimidazole-Derived ONN Donor Ligands

Reaction between [VO(acac)(2)] and the ONN donor Schiff base Hsal-ambmz (I) (Hsal-ambmz = Schiff base obtained by the condensation of salicylaldehyde and 2-aminomethylbenzimidazole) resulted in the formation of the complexes [V(IV)O(acac)(sal-ambmz)] (1), [V(V)O(2)(acac-ambmz)] (2) (Hacac-ambmz = Schiff base derived from acetylacetone and 2-aminomethylbenzimidazole), and the known complex [V(IV)O(sal-phen)] (3) (H(2)sal-phen = Schiff base derived from salicylaldehyde and o-phenylenediamine). Similarly, [V(IV)O(acac)(sal-aebmz)] (7) has been isolated from the reaction with Hsal-aebmz (II) (Hsal-aebmz derived from salicylaldehyde and 2-aminoethylbenzimidazole). Aerial oxidation of the methanolic solutions/suspensions of 1 and 7 yielded the dioxovanadium(V) complexes [V(V)O(2)(sal-ambmz)] (4) and [V(V)O(2)(sal-aebmz)] (8), respectively. Reaction of VOSO(4) with II gave [{V(IV)O(sal-aebmz)}(2)SO(4)] (9) and [V(IV)O(sal-aebmz)(2)] (10), along with 3 and 8. Under similar reaction conditions, I gave only [{V(IV)O(sal-ambmz)}(2)SO(4)] (5) and 3 as major products. Treatment of 1 and 7 with benzohydroxamic acid (Hbha) yielded the mixed-chelate complexes [V(V)O(bha)(sal-ambmz)] (6) and [V(V)O(bha)(sal-aebmz)] (11). The crystal and molecular structures of 2, 3.1/2DMF, 7.1/4H(2)O, 8, 9.2H(2)O, 10, and 11 have been determined, confirming the ONN binding mode of the ligands. In complex 10, one of the ligands is coordinated through the azomethine nitrogen and phenolate oxygen only, leaving the benzimidazole group free. In the dinuclear complex 9, bridging functions are the phenolate oxygens from both of the ligands and two oxygens of the sulfato group. The unstable oxoperoxovanadium(V) complex [V(V)O(O(2))(sal-aebmz)] (12) has been prepared by treatment of 7 with aqueous H(2)O(2). Acidification of methanolic solutions of 7 and 10 lead to (reversible) protonation of the bemzimidazole, while 8 was converted to an oxo-hydroxo species. Complexes 2, 4, and 8 catalyze the oxidation of methyl phenyl sulfide to methyl phenyl sulfoxide and methyl phenyl sulfone, a reaction mimicking the sulfideperoxidase activity of vanadate-dependent haloperoxidases. These complexes are also catalytically active in the oxidation of styrene to styrene oxide, benzaldehyde, benzoic acid, and 1-phenylethane-1,2-diol.

Peroxovanadate Imidazole Complexes as Catalysts for Olefin Epoxidation: Density Functional Study of Dynamics, 51V NMR Chemical Shifts, and Mechanism

A density functional study of [VO(O(2))(2)(Im)](-) (1, Im = imidazole) is presented, calling special attention to effects of dynamics and solvation on the (51)V chemical shift. According to Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations, rotation of the Im ligand can be fast in the gas phase, but is more hindered in aqueous solution. In the latter, bonding between Im and V is reinforced, and dynamic averaging of GIAO-B3LYP magnetic shieldings affords a gas-to-liquid shift of ca. -100 ppm for delta((51)V). A complete catalytic cycle has been characterized for olefin epoxidation mediated by 1, using H(2)O(2) as oxidant. The rate-determining step is indicated to be initial oxygen atom transfer from 1 to the substrate via a spiro-like transition state. Substituent effects on this barrier are examined, and a significant decrease (by 2-6 kcal/mol) is revealed upon removal of the Im proton or upon complexation with a H-bond acceptor. Implications for the mechanism of the oxidative chemistry of vanadium-dependent haloperoxidases and requirements for prospective biomimetic analogues are discussed.