Nonheme oxoiron(IV) complexes of two pentadentate ligands, N4Py (N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-bis(2-pyridyl)methylamine) and Bn-tpen (N-benzyl-N,N',N'-tris(2-pyridylmethyl)-1,2-diaminoethane), have been generated and found to have spectroscopic properties similar to the closely related tetradentate TPA (tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine) complex reported earlier. However, unlike the TPA complex, the pentadentate complexes have a considerable lifetime at room temperature. This greater thermal stability has allowed the hydroxylation of alkanes with C-H bonds as strong as 99.3 kcal/mol to be observed at room temperature. Furthermore, a large deuterium KIE value is found in the oxidation of ethylbenzene. These observations lend strong credence to postulated mechanisms of mononuclear nonheme iron enzymes that invoke the intermediacy of oxoiron(IV) species.

The structures of recently discovered non-heme oxoiron(iv) complexes of two pentadentate ligands have been deduced, one by X-ray crystallography and the other by 1 H NMR spectroscopy. Detailed experimental and theoretical studies are described by L. Que, Jr., C. J. Cramer et al. on the following pages.

Transient mononuclear low-spin alkylperoxoiron(III) and oxoiron(IV) complexes that are relevant to the activation of dioxygen by nonheme iron enzymes have been generated from synthetic iron(II) complexes of neutral tetradentate (TPA) and pentadentate (N4Py, Bn-TPEN) ligands and structurally characterized by means of Fe K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Notable features obtained from fits of the EXAFS region are Fe-O bond lengths of 1.78 A for the alkylperoxoiron(III) intermediates and 1.65-1.68 A for the oxoiron(IV) intermediates, reflecting different strengths in the Fe-O pi interactions. These differences are also observed in the intensities of the 1s-to-3d transitions in the XANES region, which increase from 4 units for the nearly octahedral iron(II) precursor to 9-15 units for the alkylperoxoiron(III) intermediates to 25-29 units for the oxoiron(IV) species.

A series of complexes with [Fe(II)(2)(mu-OH)(2)] cores has been synthesized with N3 and N4 ligands and structurally characterized to serve as models for nonheme diiron(II) sites in enzymes that bind and activate O(2). These complexes react with O(2) in solution via bimolecular rate-limiting steps that differ in rate by 10(3)-fold, depending on ligand denticity and steric hindrance near the diiron center. Low-temperature trapping of a (mu-oxo)(mu-1,2-peroxo)diiron(III) intermediate after O(2) binding requires sufficient steric hindrance around the diiron center and the loss of a proton (presumably that of a hydroxo bridge or a yet unobserved hydroperoxo intermediate). The relative stability of these and other (mu-1,2-peroxo)diiron(III) intermediates suggests that these species may not be on the direct pathway for dioxygen activation.

The reaction of [Fe(II)(beta-BPMCN)(OTf)2] (1, BPMCN = N,N'-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-N,N'-dimethyl-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane) with tBuOOH at low-temperature yields alkylperoxoiron(III) intermediates 2 in CH2Cl2 and 2-NCMe in CH3CN. At -45 degrees C and above, 2-NCMe converts to a pale green species 3 (lambda(max) = 753 nm, epsilon = 280 M(-1) cm(-1)) in 90% yield, identified as [Fe(IV)(O)(BPMCN)(NCCH3)]2+ by comparison to other nonheme [Fe(IV)(O)(L)]2+ complexes. Below -55 degrees C in CH2Cl2, 2 decays instead to form deep turquoise 4 (lambda(max) = 656, 845 nm; epsilon = 4000, 3600 M(-1) cm(-1)), formulated to be an unprecedented alkylperoxoiron(IV) complex [Fe(IV)(BPMCN)(OH)(OOtBu)]2+ on the basis of Mössbauer, EXAFS, resonance Raman, NMR, and mass spectral evidence. The reactivity of 1 with tBuOOH in the two solvents reveals an unexpectedly rich iron(IV) chemistry that can be supported by the BPMCN ligand.

With the goal of gaining insight into the structures of peroxo intermediates observed for oxygen activating nonheme diiron enzymes, a series of metastable synthetic diiron(III)-peroxo complexes with [FeIII2(µ-O)(µ-1,2-O2)] cores has been characterized by X-ray absorption and resonance Raman spectroscopy. EXAFS analysis shows that this basic core structure gives rise to an Fe-Fe distance of ~3.15 Å; the distance is decreased by 0.1 Å upon introduction of an additional carboxylate bridge. In corresponding resonance Raman studies, vibrations arising from both the Fe-O-Fe and the Fe-O-O-Fe units can be observed. A change in the Fe-Fe distance affects the ν(O-O) mode, as well as the νsym(Fe-O-Fe) and the νasym(Fe-O-Fe) modes. Indeed a linear correlation can be discerned between the ν(O-O) frequency of a complex and its Fe-Fe distance among the subset of complexes with [FeIII2(µ-OR)(µ-1,2-O2)] cores (R = H, alkyl, aryl, or no substituent). These experimental studies are complemented by a normal coordinate analysis and DFT calculations.

A pushy Lewis base: Previously unobserved non‐heme FeIVO intermediates can be trapped in the decay of FeIIIOOR species by the addition of Lewis bases (represented by the green sphere) that promote OO bond homolysis (see picture; Fe purple, O red).

Mononuclear manganese(II) and iron(III) flavonolates were synthesized as synthetic enzyme-substrate complexes, and their oxygenation reactions as biomimetic functional models with relevance to flavonol 2,4-dioxygenases are briefly described.