Fe III -O 2 •− intermediates are well known in heme enzymes, but none have been characterized in the nonheme mononuclear Fe II enzyme family. Many steps in the O 2 activation and reaction cycle of Fe II -containing homoprotocatechuate 2,3-dioxygenase are made detectable by using the alternative substrate 4-nitrocatechol (4NC) and mutation of the active site His200 to Asn (H200N). Here, the first intermediate (Int-1) observed after adding O 2 to the H200N-4NC complex is trapped and characterized using EPR and Möss-bauer (MB) spectroscopies. Int-1 is a high-spin ( (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). Internal electron transfer to form an Fe III -superoxo species converts the kinetically inert triplet ground state of O 2 to a doublet that can participate in the many types of chemistry characteristic of this mechanistically diverse group of enzymes. The same strategy is usually employed by heme-containing oxygenases and oxidases, leading in some cases to comparatively stable Fe III -superoxo intermediates that have been structurally and spectroscopically characterized (9-12). Instability of the putative superoxo intermediate in all mononuclear nonheme iron-containing enzymes has prevented similar characterization, although a superoxide level species has been reported for the dinuclear iron site of myo-inositol oxygenase (13).In recent studies of the nonheme Fe II -containing homoprotocatechuate 2,3-dioxygenase (2,3-HPCD), we have shown that three intermediates of the catalytic cycle can be trapped in one crystal for structural analysis (14). One of these intermediates has been proposed to be an Fe II -superoxo species based on the long Fe-O bond distances and an unexpected lack of planarity of the aromatic ring of the alternative substrate 4-nitrocatechol (4NC), which chelates the iron in ligand sites adjacent to that of the O 2 . In accord with the mechanism postulated for this enzyme class as illustrated in Scheme 1 (1, 8, 15-21), we have proposed that net electron transfer from 4NC through the Fe II to O 2 forms adjacent substrate and oxygen radicals (Scheme 1B). Recombination of the radicals would begin the ring cleavage and oxygen insertion reactions of this enzyme that eventually yield a muconic semialdehyde adduct as the product. A localized radical on the 4NC semiquinone at the incipient position of oxygen attack would account for the lack of ring planarity. Although this is the only structurally characterized nonheme Fe-superoxo species, the iron oxidation state differs from all of the other postulated Fe-superoxo intermediates.The mechanism that emerges from the structural and kinetic studies does not require a change in metal oxidation state to form a reactive intermediate (22). However, our studies of 2,3-HPCD in which Fe II is replaced with Mn II suggest that transient formaScheme 1. Proposed mechanism for extradiol dioxygenases. In the case of 2,3-HPCD, R is −CH 2 COO − and B is His200. When R is −NO 2 and His200 is changed to Asn, the reaction stalls before reaching intermediate C. Peroxide is slowly released a...

Recently, we reported the characterization of the S = (1)/ 2 complex [Fe (V)(O)B*] (-), where B* belongs to a family of tetraamido macrocyclic ligands (TAMLs) whose iron complexes activate peroxides for environmentally useful applications. The corresponding one-electron reduced species, [Fe (IV)(O)B*] (2-) ( 2), has now been prepared in >95% yield in aqueous solution at pH > 12 by oxidation of [Fe (III)(H 2O)B*] (-) ( 1), with tert-butyl hydroperoxide. At room temperature, the monomeric species 2 is in a reversible, pH-dependent equilibrium with dimeric species [B*Fe (IV)-O-Fe (IV)B*] (2-) ( 3), with a p K a near 10. In zero field, the Mössbauer spectrum of 2 exhibits a quadrupole doublet with Delta E Q = 3.95(3) mm/s and delta = -0.19(2) mm/s, parameters consistent with a S = 1 Fe (IV) state. Studies in applied magnetic fields yielded the zero-field splitting parameter D = 24(3) cm (-1) together with the magnetic hyperfine tensor A/ g nbeta n = (-27, -27, +2) T. Fe K-edge EXAFS analysis of 2 shows a scatterer at 1.69 (2) A, a distance consistent with a Fe (IV)O bond. DFT calculations for [Fe (IV)(O)B*] (2-) reproduce the experimental data quite well. Further significant improvement was achieved by introducing hydrogen bonding of the axial oxygen with two solvent-water molecules. It is shown, using DFT, that the (57)Fe hyperfine parameters of complex 2 give evidence for strong electron donation from B* to iron.

The biosynthesis of chloramphenicol requires a β-hydroxylation tailoring reaction of the precursor L-p-aminophenylalanine (L-PAPA). Here, it is shown that this reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme CmlA from an operon containing the genes for biosynthesis of L-PAPA and the nonribosomal peptide synthetase CmlP. EPR, Mössbauer, and optical spectroscopies reveal that CmlA contains an oxo-bridged dinuclear iron cluster, a metal center not previously associated with nonribosomal peptide synthetase chemistry. Single-turnover kinetic studies indicate that CmlA is functional in the diferrous state and that its substrate is L-PAPA covalently bound to CmlP. Analytical studies show that the product is hydroxylated L-PAPA and that O 2 is the oxygen source, demonstrating a monooxygenase reaction.The gene sequence of CmlA shows that it utilizes a lactamase fold, suggesting that the diiron cluster is in a protein environment not previously known to effect monooxygenase reactions. Notably, CmlA homologs are widely distributed in natural product biosynthetic pathways, including a variety of pharmaceutically important beta-hydroxylated antibiotics and cytostatics.beta-hydroxylation | dinuclear iron cluster | nonheme oxygenase | spectroscopy | nonribosomal peptide synthetase

A series of mixed-valence iron-nickel dithiolates is described. Oxidation of (diphosphine)Ni(dithiolate)Fe(CO)3 complexes 1, 2, and 3 with ferrocenium salts affords the corresponding tricarbonyl cations [(dppe)Ni(pdt)Fe(CO)3]+ ([1]+), [(dppe)Ni(edt)Fe(CO)3]+ ([2]+) and [(dcpe)Ni(pdt)Fe(CO)3]+ ([3]+), respectively, where dppe = Ph2PCH2CH2PPh2, dcpe = Cy2PCH2CH2PCy2, pdtH2 = HSCH2CH2CH2SH and edtH2 = HSCH2CH2SH. The cation [2]+ proved unstable, but the propanedithiolates are robust. IR and EPR spectroscopic measurements indicate that these species exist as Cs-symmetric species. Crystallographic characterization of [3]BF4 shows that Ni is square planar. Interaction of [1]BF4 with P-donor ligands (L) afforded a series of substituted derivatives of type [(dppe)Ni(pdt)Fe(CO)2L]BF4 for L = P(OPh)3 ([4a]BF4), P(p-C6H4Cl)3 ([4b]BF4), PPh2(2-py) ([4c]BF4), PPh2(OEt) ([4d]BF4), PPh3 ([4e]BF4), PPh2(o-C6H4OMe) ([4f]BF4), PPh2(o-C6H4OCH2OMe) ([4g]BF4), P(p-tol)3 ([4h]BF4), P(p-C6H4OMe)3 ([4i]BF4), PMePh2 ([4j]BF4). EPR analysis indicates that ethanedithiolate [2]+ exists as a single species at 110 K, whereas the propanedithiolate cations exist as a mixture of two conformers, which are proposed to be related through a flip of the chelate ring. Mössbauer spectra of 1 and oxidized S = ½ [4e]BF4 are both consistent with a low-spin Fe(i) state. The hyperfine coupling tensor of [4e]BF4 has a small isotropic component and significant anisotropy. DFT calculations using the BP86, B3LYP, and PBE0 exchange-correlation functionals agree with the structural and spectroscopic data, suggesting that the SOMOs in complexes of the present type are localized in a Fe(i)-centered d(z2) orbital. The DFT calculations allow an assignment of oxidation states of the metals and rationalization of the conformers detected by EPR spectroscopy. Treatment of [1]+ with CN- and compact basic phosphines results in complex reactions. With dppe, [1]+ undergoes quasi-disproportionation to give 1 and the diamagnetic complex [(dppe)Ni(pdt)Fe(CO)2(dppe)]2+ ([5]2+), which features square-planar Ni linked to an octahedral Fe center.