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Rate constants for oxidations of benzyl alcohol-d0 and -d7 by oxoiron(IV) tetramesitylporphyrin radical cation perchlorate in acetonitrile were measured in single turnover kinetic studies. The kinetic isotope effect (kH/kD) increased from 28 at 23 degrees C to 360 at -30 degrees C due to extensive hydrogen atom tunneling that was analyzed in terms of a parabolic energy barrier to tunneling. Similarly, large KIE values were found for oxidations of ethylbenzene-d0 and -d10 at room temperature. The large KIE values are a function of the porphyrin identity, and porphyrins containing electron-withdrawing groups display normal KIEs. KIEs found under catalytic turnover conditions are somewhat smaller than those obtained in single turnover reactions. The results should serve as benchmarks for computational studies of C-H oxidations by porphyrin and heme-iron-oxo systems.

The kinetics of the reactions of three porphyrin-iron(IV)-oxo derivatives with alkenes and benzylic alcohols were measured. The iron-oxo systems studied were 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(2,6-dichlorophenyl)porphyrin-iron(IV)-oxo (2a), 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(2,6-difluorophenyl)porphyrin-iron(IV)-oxo (2b), and 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin-iron(IV)-oxo (2c). Species 2 were stable for hours at room temperature as dilute solutions in acetonitrile and reacted hundreds to thousands of times faster in the presence of high concentrations of substrates. Typical second-order rate constants determined from pseudo-first-order kinetic studies are 1-2 x 10(-2) M(-1) s(-1) for reactions with styrene and 3 x 10(-2) M(-1) s(-1) for reactions with benzyl alcohol. The reactivity order for the iron-oxo species was 2a > 2b > 2c, which is inverted from that expected on the basis of the electron demand of the porphyrin macrocycles, and the oxidation reaction was suppressed when excess porphyrin-iron(III) complex was added to reaction mixtures. These observations indicate that the reactions involve disproportionation of the iron(IV)-oxo species 2 to give an iron(III) species and a more highly oxidized iron species, presumed to be an iron(IV)-oxo porphyrin radical cation, that is the true oxidant in the reactions. Analyses of the kinetics of oxidations of a series of para-substituted benzylic alcohols with Hammett sigma+ -substituent constants and with a dual-parameter method developed by Jiang (Jiang, X. K. Acc. Chem. Res. 1997, 30, 283) indicated that considerable positive charge developed on the benzylic carbons in the oxidation reactions, as expected for electrophilic oxidants, and also that substantial radical character developed on the benzyl carbon in the transition states.

Photolyses of metastable porphyrin-iron(IV) diperchlorates in laser flash photolysis reactions gave highly reactive transients. The systems studied were 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP), 5,10,15,20-tetramesitylporphyrin (TMP), and 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethylporphyrin (OEP). The new species, which decayed within milliseconds in acetonitrile solutions, were shown to react with organic substrates by oxo-transfer reactions involving insertions into carbon-carbon double bonds of alkenes and styrenes or benzylic carbon-hydrogen bonds of arenes. The order of reactivity was OEP > TPP > TMP. Second-order rate constants for reactions with several substrates at 22°C were determined; representative values of rate constants for the TPP derivative were k = 8.6 × 105 M−1 s−1 for styrene, k = 2.5 × 106 M−1 s−1 for cyclohexene, and k = 7.7 × 104 M−1 s−1 for ethylbenzene. These porphyrin-iron-oxo transients reacted 4 to 5 orders of magnitude faster than the corresponding iron(IV)-oxo porphyrin radical cations with rate constants similar to those of porphyrin-manganese(V)-oxo derivatives. Rate constants for oxidations of benzylic C-H positions of arenes correlated with the C-H bond dissociation energies, and Hammett correlations for reactions with substituted styrenes had ρ+ values ranging from −0.5 to −0.7 reflecting electrophilic character of the oxidants and their high reactivity. On the basis of their unique UV-visible spectra, high reactivities, and oxo-transfer properties, the new transients are tentatively identified as porphyrin-iron(V)-oxo perchlorates, electronic isomers (or valence tautomers) of well known iron(IV)-oxo porphyrin radical cations.

Quantum yields for thymine photodimerization (Φ(TT)) have been determined for a series of short DNA single-strand and base-paired hairpin structures possessing a single thymine-thymine step with flanking purines. Values of Φ(TT) are strongly dependent upon the oxidation potential of the flanking purine, decreasing in the order: inosine > adenine > guanine > deazaguanine. The dependence of Φ(TT) on the ionization potential of the flanking purine is more pronounced when the purine of lower oxidation potential is located at the 5'- versus 3'-position in either a single strand or a hairpin. Molecular dynamics simulations for hairpin structures indicate that the TT step is π-stacked with both the 5' and 3' purine, but that there is little π-stacking with either purine in single-strand structures. The observation of moderately intense long-wavelength UV absorption features for hairpins having 5'-Z or G flanking purines suggests that excitation of ground state donor-acceptor complexes may account for more extensive quenching of dimerization by 5'- versus 3'-purines. The "purine effect" on Φ(TT) is attributed to a combination of ground state conformation, ground state electron donor-acceptor interactions, and excited state exciplex formation.