Five density functionals including GGA (generalized gradient approximation) (BP86), meta-GGA (TPSS), hybrid meta-GGA (TPSSh), hybrid (B3LYP), and double-hybrid functionals (B2PLYP) were calibrated for the prediction of 57Fe Mössbauer isomer shifts on a set of 20 iron-containing molecules. The influence of scalar relativistic effects and the basis set dependence of the predictions were investigated.

Oxo-iron(IV) species are implicated as key intermediates in the catalytic cycles of heme and nonheme oxygen activating iron enzymes that selectively functionalize aliphatic C-H bonds. Ferryl complexes can exist in either quintet or triplet ground states. Density functional theory calculations predict that the quintet oxo-iron(IV) species is more reactive toward C-H bond activation than its corresponding triplet partner, however; the available experimental data on model complexes suggests that both spin multiplicities display comparable reactivities. To clarify this ambiguity, a detailed electronic structure analysis of alkane hydroxylation by an oxo-iron(IV) species on different spin-state potential energy surfaces is performed. According to our results, the lengthening of the Fe-oxo bond in ferryl reactants, which is the part of the reaction coordinate for H-atom abstraction, leads to the formation of oxyl-iron(III) species that then perform actual C-H bond activation. The differential reactivity stems from the fact that the two spin states have different requirements for the optimal angle at which the substrate should approach the ðFeOÞ 2þ core because distinct electron acceptor orbitals are employed on the two surfaces. The H-atom abstraction on the quintet surface favors the "σ-pathway" that requires an essentially linear attack; by contrast a "π-channel" is operative on the triplet surface that leads to an ideal attack angle near 90°. However, the latter is not possible due to steric crowding; thus, the attenuated orbital interaction and the unavoidably increased Pauli repulsion result in the lower reactivity of the triplet oxo-iron(IV) complexes. density functional calculation | nonheme iron | reaction mechanism O xo-iron(IV) intermediates have attracted much interest in bioinorganic chemistry because they are implicated as key intermediates in the catalytic cycles of heme and nonheme oxygen activating iron enzymes that selectively functionalize unactivated C-H bonds (1). Detailed experimental and theoretical studies on the hydroxylation of saturated hydrocarbons by ferryl species in heme systems, foremost cytochrome P450, have been performed (2). On the other hand a number of nonheme enzymes are able to activate molecular dioxygen to modify alkane or arene substrates as well. So far, nonheme ferryl species have been spectroscopically characterized in four mononuclear iron enzymes and were found to feature high-spin (HS) (S ¼ 2) electronic ground state configurations (3). In parallel, a wide range of synthetic FeðIVÞ¼O complexes were synthesized and characterized (4). In almost all cases they contain intermediate-spin (IS) (S ¼ 1) rather than HS ferryl centers (4). The only exceptions are ½FeðIVÞðOÞðH 2 OÞ 5 2þ (5) and the recently reported model complex ½FeðIVÞðOÞðTMG 3 trenÞ 2þ (TMG 3 tren ¼ N½CH 2 CH 2 N ¼ CðNMe 2 Þ 2 ) (6). Presumably because the ðFeOÞ 2þ core is sheltered by the sterically bulky supporting ligand in ½FeðIVÞðOÞ ðTMG 3 trenÞ 2þ , its reactivity toward C-H bond cleavage is only comparabl...

Homogeneous CO2 reduction catalyzed by [Ni(I)(cyclam)](+) (cyclam = 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane) exhibits high efficiency and selectivity yielding CO only at a relatively low overpotential. In this work, a density functional theory study of the reaction mechanism is presented. Earlier experiments have revealed that the same reaction occurring on mercury surfaces generates a mixture of CO and formate. According to the proposed mechanism, an η(1)-CO2 adduct is the precursor for CO evolution, whereas formate is obtained from an η(1)-OCO adduct. Our calculations show that generation of the η(1)-CO2 adduct is energetically favored by ∼14.0 kcal/mol relative to that of the η(1)-OCO complex, thus rationalizing the product selectivity observed experimentally. Binding of η(1)-CO2 to Ni(I) only leads to partial electron transfer from the metal center to CO2. Hence, further CO2 functionalization likely proceeds via an outer-sphere electron-transfer mechanism, for which concerted proton coupled electron transfer (PCET) is calculated to be the most feasible route. Final C-O bond cleavage involves rather low barriers in the presence of H3O(+) and H2CO3 and is therefore essentially concerted with the preceding PCET. As a result, the entire reaction mechanism can be described as concerted proton-electron transfer and C-O bond cleavage. On the basis of the theoretical results, the limitations of the catalytic activity of Ni(cyclam) are discussed, which sheds light on future design of more efficient catalysts.

The energies of different spin multiplicities of a range of iron complexes are computed using modern density functional theory (DFT) methods of the generalized gradient approximation (GGA; BP86 and OPBE), meta-GGA (TPSS), hybrid meta-GGA (TPSSh), hybrid (B3LYP), and double-hybrid (B2PLYP) types. It is shown that so far only the double-hybrid density functional B2PLYP, in conjunction with large and flexible basis sets (def2-QZVPP), is able to provide qualitatively correct results of spin-state energetics for the investigated non-spin-crossover complexes. An energy difference of -6 to 0 kcal/mol is proposed to be indicative of spin-crossover behavior.

The Fe(II)- and alpha-ketoglutarate (alphaKG)-dependent dioxygenases activate O2 for cleavage of unactivated C-H bonds in their substrates. The key intermediate that abstracts hydrogen in the reaction of taurine:alphaKG dioxygenase (TauD), a member of this enzyme family, was recently characterized. The intermediate, denoted J, was shown to contain an iron(IV)-oxo unit. Other important structural features of J, such as the number, identity, and disposition of ligands in the Fe(IV) coordination sphere, are not yet understood. To probe these important structural features, a series of models for J with the Fe(IV) ion coordinated by the expected two imidazole (from His99 and His255), two carboxylate (succinate and Asp101), and oxo ligands have been generated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and spectroscopic parameters (Mössbauer isomer shift, quadrupole splitting, and asymmetry parameter, 57Fe hyperfine coupling tensor, and zero field splitting parameters, D and E/D) have been calculated for each model. The calculated parameters of distorted octahedral models for J, in which one of the carboxylates serves as a monodentate ligand and the other as a bidentate ligand, and a trigonal bipyramidal model, in which both carboxylates serve as monodentate ligands, agree well with the experimental parameters, whereas the calculated parameters of a square pyramidal model, in which the oxo ligand is in the equatorial plane, are inconsistent with the data. Similar analysis of the Fe(IV) complex generated in the variant protein with His99, the residue that contributes the imidazole ligand cis to the oxo group, replaced by alanine suggests that the deleted imidazole is replaced by a water ligand. This work lends credence to the idea that the combination of Mössbauer spectroscopy and DFT calculations can provide detailed structural information for reactive intermediates in the catalytic cycles of iron enzymes.

C-H bond activation mediated by oxo-iron (IV) species represents the key step of many heme and nonheme O-activating enzymes. Of crucial interest is the effect of spin state of the Fe(O) unit. Here we report the C-H activation kinetics and corresponding theoretical investigations of an exclusive tetracarbene ligated oxo-iron(IV) complex, [LFe(O)(MeCN)] (1). Kinetic traces using substrates with bond dissociation energies (BDEs) up to 80 kcal mol show pseudo-first-order behavior and large but temperature-dependent kinetic isotope effects (KIE 32 at -40 °C). When compared with a topologically related oxo-iron(IV) complex bearing an equatorial N-donor ligand, [LFe(O) (MeCN)] (A), the tetracarbene complex 1 is significantly more reactive with second order rate constants k' that are 2-3 orders of magnitude higher. UV-vis experiments in tandem with cryospray mass spectrometry evidence that the reaction occurs via formation of a hydroxo-iron(III) complex (4) after the initial H atom transfer (HAT). An extensive computational study using a wave function based multireference approach, viz. complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) followed by N-electron valence perturbation theory up to second order (NEVPT2), provided insight into the HAT trajectories of 1 and A. Calculated free energy barriers for 1 reasonably agree with experimental values. Because the strongly donating equatorial tetracarbene pushes the Fe-d orbital above d, 1 features a dramatically large quintet-triplet gap of ∼18 kcal/mol compared to ∼2-3 kcal/mol computed for A. Consequently, the HAT process performed by 1 occurs on the triplet surface only, in contrast to complex A reported to feature two-state-reactivity with contributions from both triplet and quintet states. Despite this, the reactive Fe(O) units in 1 and A undergo the same electronic-structure changes during HAT. Thus, the unique complex 1 represents a pure "triplet-only" ferryl model.

This perspective discusses the principles of the multistate scenario often encountered in transition metal catalyzed reactions, and is organized as follows. First, several important theoretical concepts (physical versus formal oxidation states, orbital interactions, use of (spin) natural and corresponding orbitals, exchange enhanced reactivity and the connection between valence bond and molecular orbital based electronic structure analysis) are presented. These concepts are then used to analyze the electronic structure changes occurring in the reaction of C-H bond oxidation by Fe(IV)oxo species. The analysis reveals that the energy separation and the overlap between the electron donating orbitals and electron accepting orbitals of the Fe(IV)oxo complexes dictate the reaction stereochemistry, and that the manner in which the exchange interaction changes depends on the identity of these orbitals. The electronic reorganization of the Fe(IV)oxo species during the reaction is thoroughly analyzed and it is shown that the Fe(IV)oxo reactant develops oxyl radical character, which interacts effectively with the σCH orbital of the alkane. The factors that determine the energy barrier for the reaction are discussed in terms of molecular orbital and valence bond concepts.

New high‐spin pathways: All four feasible reaction pathways for alkane hydroxylation by nonheme iron(IV)–oxo complexes have been investigated by computational methods. The triplet σ path is too high in energy to be involved in CH bond activation, but the reactivity of the quintet π channel competes with the triplet path and may thus offer a new approach for specific control of CH bond activation by iron(IV)–oxo species (see scheme).