Factors affecting hydrogen-tunneling contribution in hydroxylation reactions promoted by oxoiron(IV) porphyrin π-cation radical complexes.

Hydrogen atom transfer with a tunneling effect (H-tunneling) has been proposed to be involved in aliphatic hydroxylation reactions catalyzed by cytochrome P450 and synthetic heme complexes as a result of the observation of large hydrogen/deuterium kinetic isotope effects (KIEs). In the present work, we investigate the factors controlling the H-tunneling contribution to the H-transfer process in hydroxylation reaction by examining the kinetics of hydroxylation reactions at the benzylic positions of xanthene and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene by oxoiron(IV) 5,10,15,20-tetramesitylporphyrin π-cation radical complexes ((TMP(+•))Fe(IV)O(L)) under single-turnover conditions. The Arrhenius plots for these hydroxylation reactions of H-isotopomers have upwardly concave profiles.