Zinc finger reactions with inorganic ions and coordination compounds are as diverse as the zinc fingers themselves. Use of metal ions such as Co(2+) and Cd(2+) has given structural, thermodynamic and kinetic information on zinc fingers and zinc-finger-DNA/RNA interactions. It is a general truism that alteration of the coordination sphere in the finger environment will disrupt the recognition with DNA/RNA and this has implications for mechanism of toxicity and carcinogenesis of metal ions. Structural zinc fingers are susceptible to electrophilic attack and the recognition that the coordination sphere of inorganic compounds may be modulated for control of electrophilic attack on zinc fingers raises the possibility of systematic studies of zinc fingers as drug targets using inorganic chemistry. Some inorganic compounds such as those of As(III) and Au(I) may exert their biological effects through inactivation of zinc fingers and novel approaches to specifically attack the zinc-bound ligands using Co(III)-Schiff bases and Platinum(II)-Nucleobase compounds have been proposed. The genomic importance of zinc fingers suggests that the "coordination chemistry" of zinc fingers themselves is ripe for exploration to design new targets for medicinal inorganic chemistry.

New Mo(II) diimine derivatives of [Mo(η3-allyl)X(CO)2(CH3CN)2] (allyl = C3H5 and C5H5O; X = Cl, Br) were prepared, and [Mo(η3-C3H5)Cl(CO)2(BIAN)] (BIAN = 1,4-(4-chloro)phenyl-2,3-naphthalenediazabutadiene) (7) was structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. This complex adopted an equatorial−axial arrangement of the bidentate ligand (axial isomer), in contrast with the precursors, found as the equatorial isomer in the solid and fluxional in solution. The new complexes of the type [Mo(η3-allyl)X(CO)2(N−N)] (N−N is a bidentate chelating dinitrogen ligand) were tested for the catalytic epoxidation of cyclooctene using tert-butyl hydroperoxide as oxidant. All catalytic systems were 100% selective toward epoxide formation. While their turnover frequencies paralleled those of related Mo(II) carbonyl compounds or Mo(VI) compounds bearing similar N-donor ligands, they exhibited similar olefin conversions in consecutive catalytic runs. The acetonitrile precursors were generally more active than the diimine complexes, and the chloro derivatives more active than the bromo ones. Combined vibrational and NMR spectroscopy and computational studies (DFT) were used to investigate the nature of the molybdenum species formed in the catalytic system with [Mo(η3-C3H5)Cl(CO)2{1,4-(2,6-dimethyl)phenyl-2,3-dimethyldiazabutadiene}] (4) and to propose that the resulting species may be dimeric bearing oxide bridges.

No abstract