Synthesis, structure, and physicochemical properties of dinuclear NiII complexes as highly efficient functional models of phosphohydrolases.

As metal ions are present in the catalytic sites of several enzymes, attention has been focused on the synthesis and characterization of metal complexes able to act as biomimetic functional and structural models for these systems. In this study, a novel dinuclear NiII complex was synthesized, [Ni2(L2)(OAc)2(CH3CN)]BPh4 (2) (HL2=2-[N-(2-(pyridyl-2-yl)ethyl)(1-methylimidazol-2-yl)amin omethyl]-4-methyl-6-[N-(2-(imidazol-4-yl)ethyl)amino methyl]phenol), employing a new unsymmetrical dinucleating ligand containing N,O-donor groups as a model for hydrolases. Complex 2 was characterized by a variety of techniques including: elemental analysis, infrared and UV-vis spectroscopies, molar conductivity, electrochemistry, potentiometric titration, magnetochemistry, and single-crystal X-ray diffractometry.

Fe(III)Fe(III) and Fe(II)Fe(III) Complexes as Synthetic Analogues for the Oxidized and Reduced Forms of Purple Acid Phosphatases.

Novel Fe(III)Fe(III) and Fe(II)Fe(III) complexes [Fe(2)(BBPMP)(&mgr;-OAc)(&mgr;-X)](n)() (1, X = OAc(-), n = 1+; 2, X = OH(-), n = 1+; 3, X = OAc(-), n = 0; 4, X = OH(-), n = 0), where BBPMP(3)(-) is the anion of 2,6-bis[(2-hydroxybenzyl)(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl]-4-methylphenol, and OAc(-) is acetate, were prepared in order to provide models for the active site of purple acid phosphatases (PAPs). Complex 1 was obtained by the reaction of H(3)BBPMP with Fe(ClO(4))(2).6H(2)O in methanol and sodium acetate trihydrate under ambient conditions, while complex 3 was synthesized as described for 1, under an argon atmosphere with low levels of dioxygen.