The adsorption of dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) on alumina-supported iron oxide has been examined. DMMP reacts on adsorption at room temperature, apparently through cleavage of the phosphorus−carbon bond. This bond is observed to be extremely resistant to cleavage when DMMP is adsorbed on oxides such as alumina, magnesia, and lanthana. The phosphorus−methoxy bonds, which are the most readily cleaved on the other oxides, appear at least initially to remain intact on the alumina-supported iron oxide. The hypothesis proposed to account for the unusual activity of the iron oxide surface is an oxidation pathway involving the Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox couple.

Self-decomposition of the nickel(III) doubly deprotonated peptide complex of Gly2HisGly occurs by base-assisted oxidation of the peptide. At < or =p[H+] 7.0, the major pathway is a four-electron oxidation (via 4 Ni(III) complexes) at the alpha carbon of the N-terminal glycyl residue. The product of this oxidation is oxamylglycylhistidylglycine, which hydrolyzes to yield ammonia and oxalylglycylhistidylglycine. Both of these peptide products decompose to give isocyanatoacetylhistidylglycine. A small amount (2%) of oxidative decarboxylation also is observed. In another major pathway above p[H+] 7.0, two Ni(III)-peptide complexes coordinate via an oxo bridge in the axial positions to form a reactive dimer species. This dimer generates two Ni(II)-peptide radical intermediates that cross-link at the alpha carbons of the N-terminal glycyl residues. In 0.13 mM Ni(III)-peptide at p[H+] 10.3, this pathway accounts for 60% of the reaction. The cross-linked peptide is subject to oxidation via atmospheric O2, where the 2,3-diaminobutanedioic acid is converted to a 2,3-diaminobutenedioic acid. The products observed at

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The decomposition kinetics of the Ni(III) complexes of Gly(2)HisGly and Gly(2)Ha are studied from p[H(+)] 3.5 to 10, where His is l-histidine and Ha is histamine. In these redox reactions, at least two Ni(III) complexes are reduced to Ni(II) while oxidizing a single peptide ligand. The rate of Ni(III) loss is first order at low pH, mixed order from pH 7.0 to 8.5, and second order at higher pH. The transition from first- to second-order kinetics is attributed to the formation of an oxo-bridged Ni(III)-peptide dimer. The rates of decay of the Ni(III) complexes are general-base assisted with Brønsted beta values of 0.62 and 0.59 for Ni(III)Gly(2)HisGly and Ni(III)Gly(2)Ha, respectively. The coordination of Gly(2)HisGly and Gly(2)Ha to Ni(II) are examined by UV-vis and CD spectroscopy. The square planar Ni(II)(H(-2)Gly(2)HisGly)(-) and Ni(II)(H(-2)Gly(2)Ha) complexes lose an additional proton from an imidazole nitrogen at high pH with pK(a) values of 11.74 and 11.54, respectively. The corresponding Ni(III) complexes have axially coordinated water molecules with pK(a) values of 9.37 and 9.44. At higher pH an additional proton is lost from the imidazole nitrogen with a pK(a) value of 10.50 to give Ni(III)(H(-3)Gly(2)Ha)(H(2)O)(OH)(2-).

The doubly-deprotonated Ni(III) complex of Gly(2)Ha (where Ha is histamine) undergoes base-assisted oxidative self-decomposition of the peptide. At