From the study of highly preorganized model systems, experimental support has been obtained for a possible functional role of the Zn-(H)O...HO(H)-Zn motif in oligozinc hydrolases. The mechanistic relevance of such an array, which may be described as a hydrated form of a pseudo-terminal Zn-bound hydroxide, has recently been supported by DFT calculations on various metallohydrolase active sites. In the present targeted approach, the Zn...Zn distance in two related dizinc complexes has been controlled through the use of multifunctional pyrazolate-based ligand scaffolds, giving either a tightly bridged Zn-O(H)-Zn or a more loosely bridged Zn-(H)O...HO(H)-Zn species in the solid state. Zn-bound water has been found to exhibit comparable acidity irrespective of whether the resulting hydroxide is supported by strong hydrogen-bonding in the O(2)H(3) moiety or is in a bridging position between two zinc ions, indicating that water does not necessarily have to adopt a bridging position in order for its pK(a) to be sufficiently lowered so as to provide a Zn-bound hydroxide at physiological pH. Comparative reactivity studies on the cleavage of bis(4-nitrophenyl)phosphate (BNPP) mediated by the two dizinc complexes have revealed that the system with the larger Zn...Zn separation is hydrolytically more potent, both in the hydrolysis and the transesterification of BNPP. The extent of active site inhibition by the reaction products has also been found to be governed by the Zn...Zn distance, since phosphate diester coordination in a bridging mode within the clamp of two zinc ions is only favored for Zn...Zn distances well above 4 A. Different binding affinities are rationalized in terms of the structural characteristics of the product-inhibited complexes for the two different ligand scaffolds, with dimethyl phosphate found as a bridging ligand within the bimetallic pocket.

A series of pyrazolate-based dizinc(II) complexes has been synthesized and investigated as functional models for phosphoesterases, focusing on correlations between hydrolytic activity and molecular parameters of the bimetallic core. The Zn...Zn distance, the (bridging or nonbridging) position of the Zn-bound hydroxide nucleophile, and individual metal ion coordination numbers are controlled by the topology of the compartmental ligand scaffold. Species distributions of the various dizinc complexes in solution have been determined potentiometrically, and structures in the solid state have been elucidated by X-ray crystallography. The hydrolysis of bis(p-nitrophenyl)phosphate (BNPP) promoted by the dinuclear phosphoesterase model complexes has been investigated in DMSO/buffered water (1:1) at 50 degrees C as a function of complex concentration, substrate concentration, and pH. Coordination of the phosphodiester has been followed by ESI mass spectrometry, and bidentate binding could be verified crystallographically in two cases. Drastic differences in hydrolytic activity are observed and can be attributed to molecular properties. A significant decrease of the pK(a) of zinc-bound water is observed if the resulting hydroxide is involved in a strongly hydrogen-bonded intramolecular O(2)H(3) bridge, which can be even more pronounced than for a bridging hydroxide. Irrespective of the pK(a) of the Zn-bound water, a hydroxide in a bridging position evidently is a relatively poor nucleophile, while a nonbridging hydroxide position is more favorable for hydrolytic activity. Additionally, the metal array has to provide a sufficient number of coordination sites for activating both the substrate and the nucleophile, where phosphate diesters such as BNPP preferentially bind in a bidentate fashion, requiring a third site for water binding. Product inhibition of the active site by the liberated (p-nitrophenyl)phosphate is observed, and the product-inhibited complex could be characterized crystallographically. In that complex, the phosphate monoester is found to cap a rectangular array of four zinc ions composed of two bimetallic entities.

A series of highly preorganized pyrazolate-based dinuclear zinc complexes has been studied as functional synthetic analogues of metallo-beta-lactamases, a class of bacterial enzymes that cause serious clinical problems because of their degradation of common beta-lactam antibiotics. We have investigated the hydrolytic cleavage of penicillin G mediated by the different dinuclear zinc complexes, and have deduced structure-activity correlations. While cooperative effects of the adjacent metal ions might be operative, these are found to either enhance or diminish beta-lactamase activity with respect to a single free zinc. Drastic differences in activity are ascribed to a lack of accessible binding sites after incorporation of the substrate within the bimetallic pocket of 2 and 4, whereas partial detachment of hemilabile ligand side arms in 1 and 3 opens up available coordination sites for nucleophile activation and/or for binding and polarisation of the beta-lactam amide oxygen atom. This interpretation has been corroborated by NMR spectroscopic and mass spectrometric evidence as well as by X-ray crystallography of several adducts formed between the pyrazolate-based dinuclear zinc scaffolds and the small substrate analogue oxazetidinylacetate (oaa), 5-7. In all adducts, the carboxylate group of oaa is the primary anchoring site and is nested in a bridging position within the bimetallic pocket. However, zinc binding of the beta-lactam amide oxygen atom has been confirmed crystallographically for the first time in 7, in which additional open-site coordination sites are available.

Various dinucleating pyrazole ligands with chelating side arms in the 3-and 5-positions of the heterocycle have been shown to form Ni II /azido complexes, where the metal ions are spanned by the pyrazolate, and an azido bridge. Four new complexes have been characterized by X-ray crystallography and variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility studies. The Ni···Ni distance, and hence the intra-dimer coordination mode of the azide (µ-1,1 or µ-1,3), is determined by the chelate arm length, such that the magnetic properties of the bimetallic units can be controlled. The intramolecular coupling between the Ni II (S = 1) ions was found to be ferromagnetic (J = +4.0 ± 0.5 cm

A bis(tridentate) compartmental pyrazolate‐based ligand forms the discrete dizinc(II) complex[LZn2(NO3)3] (1) with a singly O‐atom bridging nitrate and two terminal chelating nitrates. In the absence of coordinating counteranions, the dizinc(II) scaffold takes up atmospheric carbon dioxide to give a tetranuclear species 3 assembled from two dinuclear components. Its X‐ray crystal structure reveals a μ4‐bridging carbonate cap, which is a rare structural motif in zinc(II) coordination chemistry.

The synthesis of a new set of bioinspired dinucleating ligand scaffolds HL1-HL3 based on a bridging pyrazolate with appended chelate arms is reported. The ligands provide two binding compartments akin to the tris(imidazolyl)methane motif, predisposed to act as facially tridentate coordination caps. Potentiometric titrations of HL1 in the presence of Ni2+ and Zn2+ reveal formation of species with a metal:ligand ratio 1:1 in aqueous solution, and UV-vis data for the NiII system suggest that the complex [L12Ni2]2+ with (NiN6) chromophore is formed under appropriate pH conditions. In contrast, trinickel(II) complexes [L2 2Ni3(NO3)4(MeOH)2] (4) and [L2 2Ni3Cl2(MeOH)4]Cl2 (5) could be obtained from MeOH solutions and characterized crystallographically. The anticipated tripodal (N3) binding mode of the ligand is indeed realized for the central NiII ion, but the counteranions or MeOH solvent molecules lead to dissociation of one of the N donor legs for the outer NiII ions with formation of intramolecular H-bonds between a Ni-bound MeOH and the pyrazolate-N. X-ray crystals structures were also obtained for three CuI complexes [L3 2Cu4X2](PF6) 2 with X = PMe3 (6), CNnBu (7), CNC6H3Me2-2,6 (8), where all CuI ions are three-coordinate in a distorted trigonal-planar arrangement. The two inner metals are bound to two imidazole-N from one ligand sidearm and a pyrazolate-N from the other ligand while the outer CuI ions are hosted by the pyrazolate-N and one imidazole-N from the nearby sidearm with the third coordination site filled by the coligand X. Spectroscopic and ESI-MS data suggest that the trinickel complexes stay intact even in coordinating solvents while the Cu (I) complexes in solution are partly dissociated into their bimetallic constituents. The solid state structures observed for the oligonuclear complexes 4- 8 are reminiscent of the coordination motifs previously found for related mononuclear complexes based on tripodal tris(imidazolyl)methane, which corroborates the description of HL1-HL3 as novel binucleating versions of such tris(imidazolyl)methane ligands.

Precious metals, in particular palladium (Pd), have a wide range of daily applications, from automotive catalysts to fine chemistry production. Nevertheless, these metals are relatively rare and highly expensive, considering their massive industrial utilization. In the last decades, different recycling methods have been explored. Nowadays, the most applied methods, namely pyro-and/or hydrometallurgy, involve energy-intensive processes and/or the generation of large amounts of effluents to be treated. Thus, the development of a more sustainable recycling process of precious metals is highly desirable. In the present work, we introduce a sustainable process based on the use of a green solvent, supercritical CO2, operated under mild conditions (P = 25 MPa and T = 40 °C). The extraction process is possible thanks to the addition of CO2-soluble complexing polymers bearing pyridine units. The proposed method leads to the extraction of more than 70% of Pd from an aluminosilica-supported catalyst.

Precious metals, in particular Pd, have a wide range of applications in industry. Due to their scarcity, precious metals have to be recycled, preferably with green and energy-saving recycling processes. In this article, palladium extraction from an aluminosilicate-supported catalyst, containing about 2 wt% (weight%) of Pd (100% PdO), with supercritical CO2 (scCO2) assisted by complexing polymers is described. Two polymers, p(FDA)SH homopolymer and p(FDA-co-DPPS) copolymer (FDA: 1,1,2,2-tetrahydroperfluorodecyl acrylate; DPPS: 4-(diphenylphosphino)styrene), were tested with regards to their ability to extract palladium. Both polymers showed relatively low extraction conversions of approximately 18% and 30%, respectively. However, the addition of piperidine as activator for p(FDA-co-DPPS) allowed for an increase in the extraction conversion of up to 60%.