New copper(II) complexes of the cyclic trinuclear type with 1,2,4-triazole ligands, [Cu(3)(mu(3)-OH)(aaat)(3)(H(2)O)(3)](NO(3))(2).H(2)O [Haaat = 3-acetylamino-5-amino-1,2,4-triazole] (1) and ([Cu(3)(mu(3)-OH)(aat)(3)(mu(3)-SO(4))].6H(2)O)(n) [Haat = 3-acetylamino-1,2,4-triazole] (2), have been prepared and characterized by X-ray crystallography and magnetic measurements. Compound 1, the first reported with the ligand (H)aaat, consists of discrete trinuclear cations, associated NO(3)(-) anions and lattice water molecules. Compound 2 consists of unusual chains of trinuclear units with a tridentate sulfato group linking the trimeric units and water molecules stabilizing the crystal lattice. In both complexes, 1 and 2, the trinuclear [Cu(3)(OH)L(3)] unit contains a pyramidal Cu(3)-mu(3)OH core, and an almost flat Cu(3)N(6) ring formed by the N,N-bridging triazolato groups. The Cu...Cu' intratrimeric distances are 3.35-3.37-3.39 A in 1 and 3.34-3.34-3.36 A in 2. The copper atoms are five-coordinated with a distorted square-pyramidal geometry. Magnetic measurements have been performed in the 1.9-300 K temperature range. In the high-temperature region (T > 90 K), experimental data could be satisfactorily reproduced by using an isotropic exchange model, H = -J(S(1)S(2) + S(2)S(3) + S(1)S(3)), with J = -194.6 cm(-1) and g = 2.08 for 1, and J = -185.1 cm(-1) and g = 2.10 for 2. The magnitude of the antiferromagnetic exchange in both complexes is discussed on the basis of their structural features by comparison with reported N,N-pheripherically bridged trinuclear systems. In order to fit the experimental magnetic data at low temperature, an antisymmetric exchange term, H(AS) = G(S(1)xS(2) + S(2)xS(3) + S(1)xS(3)), had to be introduced, with G = 27.8 (1) and 31.0 (2) cm(-1). Crystal data: C(12)H(27)Cu(3)N(17)O(14) (1) (MW = 824.13) crystallizes in the triclinic space group, P(-)1, Z = 2, with the cell dimensions a = 8.852(2) A, b = 11.491(3) A, c = 15.404(3) A, alpha = 70.43(3) degrees, beta = 75.11(2) degrees, gamma = 88.43(2) degrees, and V = 1423.8(5) A(3), D(calcd) = 1.922 g cm(-)(3); the final agreement values were R1 = 0.0822 and wR2 = 0.2300 for 4989 unique reflections. C(12)H(28)Cu(3)N(12)O(14)S (2) (MW = 787.14) crystallizes in the triclinic space group, P(-)1, Z = 2, with the cell dimensions a = 7.146(6) A, b = 14.26(1) A, c = 15.35(2) A, alpha = 109.0(9) degrees, beta = 93.6(9) degrees, gamma = 99.5(7) degrees, and V = 1448(2) A(3), D(calcd) = 1.806 g cm(-3); the final agreement values were R1 = 0.0628 and wR2 = 0.1571 for 3997 "observed" reflections.

Hemocyanin and tyrosinase are dinuclear copper proteins capable of reversibly binding dioxygen. Despite the great similarity of structure and properties of their active site, the two proteins perform different biological functions (oxygen transport/storage versus monooxygenase and oxidase activity). In this paper, we show that Octopus vulgaris hemocyanin exhibits a tyrosinase-like activity; namely, it is capable of utilizing dioxygen for the oxidation of o-diphenol to quinone. The reaction is specific for this isomer of diphenol, the meta and para isomers being unreactive, and is strongly controlled by steric factors. Dioxygen represents a cosubstrate of the reaction, and it is involved in the catalytic turnover by binding to the dinuclear copper site of the protein to form, under steady-state conditions, oxy-Hc, which is the active species. The generation of semiquinone radicals, detected by EPR and by their reaction with N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-1,4-phenylenediamine, strongly supports a reaction mechanism in which such radicals represent the reaction products of one-electron oxidation of the substrate, quinone being generated by dismutation of semiquinones. Met-Hc is regenerated by the substrate to the deoxy form. To close the catalytic cycle, the proposed reaction mechanism also involves the participation of two transient protein forms with the total oxidation state of the active site (V and IV) intermediate between that of oxy-Hcy, [CuIIO22-CuII]VI, and deoxy-Hc, [CuICuI]II. A mathematical model has been elaborated to describe the reaction kinetics. The differences in reaction mechanisms between hemocyanin and tyrosinase are discussed in terms of accessibility to exogenous molecules of their active sites.

A new trinuclear copper(II) complex has been synthesized and structurally characterized: [Cu(3)(L)(2)(HCOO)(2)(OH)(2)](infinity) (HL = (N-pyrid-2-ylmethyl)benzenesulfonylamide). In the complex, the central copper ion is six-coordinated. The coordination spheres of the terminal copper atoms are square pyramidal, the apical positions being occupied by a sulfonamido oxygen of the contiguous trimer. As a consequence, the complex can be considered a chain of trinuclear species. The three copper atoms are in a strict linear arrangement, and adjacent coppers are connected by a hydroxo bridge and a bidentate syn-syn carboxylato group. The mixed bridging by a hydroxide oxygen atom and a bidentate formato group leads to a noncoplanarity of the adjacent basal coordination planes with a dihedral angle of 61.4(2) degrees. Susceptibility measurements (2-300 K) reveal a strong ferromagnetic coupling, J = 79 cm(-1), leading to a quartet ground state that is confirmed by the EPR spectrum. The ferromagnetic coupling arises from the countercomplementarity of the hydroxo and formato bridges. The trinuclear complex cleaves DNA efficiently, in the presence of hydrogen peroxide/sodium ascorbate. tert-Butyl alcohol and sodium azide inhibit the oxidative cleavage, suggesting that the hydroxyl radical and singlet oxygen are involved in the DNA degradation.

The synthetic complexes protohemin-6(7)-L-arginyl-L-alanine (HM-RA) and protohemin-6(7)-L-histidine methyl ester (HM-H) were prepared by condensation of suitably protected Arg-Ala or His residues with protohemin IX. HM-RA and HM-H were used for reconstitution of apomyoglobin from horse heart, yielding the Mb-RA and Mb-H derivatives, respectively, of the protein. The spectral, binding and catalytic properties of Mb-RA and Mb-H are significantly different from those of Mb. As shown by MM and MD calculations, these differences are determined by some local structural changes around the heme which are generated by increased mobility of a key peptide segment (Phe43-Lys47), containing the residue (Lys45) that in native Mb interacts with one of the porphyrin carboxylate groups. In the reconstituted Mbs this carboxylate group is bound to the Arg-Ala or His residue and is no longer available for electrostatic interaction with Lys45. The mobility of the peptide segment near the active site allows the distal histidine to come to a closer contact with the heme, and in fact Mb-RA and Mb-H exist as an equilibrium between a high-spin form and a major low-spin, six-coordinated form containing a bis-imidazole ligated heme. The two forms are clearly distinguishable in the NMR spectra, that also show that each of them consists of a mixture of the two most stable isomers resulting from cofactor reconstitution, as also anticipated by MM and MD calculations. Exogenous ligands such as cyanide, azide, or hydrogen peroxide can displace the bound distal histidine, but their affinity is reduced. On the other hand, mobilization of the peptide chain around the heme in the reconstituted Mbs increases the accessibility of large donor molecules at the heme periphery, with respect to native Mb, where a rigid backbone limits access to the distal pocket. The increased active site accessibility of Mb-RA and Mb-H facilitates the binding and electron transfer of phenolic substrates in peroxidase-type oxidations catalyzed by the reconstituted proteins in the presence of hydrogen peroxide.

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A new dinuclear copper(II) complex has been synthesized and structurally characterized: [Cu(mu-ade)(tolSO3)(phen)]2.2H2O (Hade = adenine, tolSO3- = toluenesulfonate anion). Its magnetic properties and electronic paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra have been studied in detail. The compound has two metal centers bridged by two adeninate NCN groups. The coordination geometry of the copper(II) ions in the dinuclear entity is distorted square pyramidal, with the four equatorial positions occupied by two phenanthroline N atoms and two N atoms from different adenine molecules. The axial position is occupied by one sulfonate O atom. Magnetic susceptibility data show antiferromagnetic behavior with an estimated exchange constant of -2J = 65 cm-1. The EPR spectrum has been obtained at both X- and Q-band frequencies; a study at different temperatures has been carried out at the latter. Above 20 K, the Q-band spectra are characteristic of S = 1 species with a small zero-field splitting parameter (D = 0.0970 cm-1). A detailed study of the DNA-complex interaction has been performed. The title complex efficiently cleaves the pUC18 plasmid in the presence of reducing agents. Both the kinetics and the mechanism of the cleavage reaction are examined and described herein.

Copper-based transition metal complexes performing single- and double-strand scission of DNA have been studied. The dinuclear complexes [Cu(2)(L)(2)(OCH(3))(2)(NH(3))(2)] and [Cu(2)(L)(2)(OCH(3))(2)(DMSO)(2)] are more active than the corresponding mononuclear [Cu(L)(2)(py)(2)] (where HL= N-(4-methylbenzothiazol-2-yl)benzenesulfonamide), suggesting that the dinuclearity is an important factor in the oxidative cleavage of DNA. The cleavage efficiency of the complexes depends on the reducing agent used in the process, the tandem ascorbate/H(2)O(2) being the most efficient. PAGE analyses have shown that these complexes cleave DNA without sequence selectivity. The DNA degradation process takes place mainly by C1' oxidation, but C4' and C5' oxidations cannot be ruled out as minor pathways. These copper complexes preferably oxidize guanine under mild conditions, but under more drastic conditions the oxidation reactivity appears to be T>G>C>A, suggesting the intervention of hydroxyl radicals as active species.

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