Publications by authors named "Megan Ayala"

Heme enzymes are involved in the binding and metabolism of hydroxylamine (RNHOH) and aldoxime (RCH=NOH) compounds (R = H, alkyl, aryl). We report the synthesis and X-ray crystal structure of a metalloporphyrin in complex with an arylhydroxylamine, namely that of (TPP)Rh(PhNHOH)(CHCl) (TPP = tetraphenylpophryinato dianion). The crystal structure reveals, in addition to N-binding of PhNHOH to Rh, the presence of an intramolecular H-bond between the hydroxylamine -OH proton and a porphyrin N-atom.

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Tetraazamacrocycles, cyclic molecules with four nitrogen atoms, have long been known to produce highly stable transition metal complexes. Cross-bridging such molecules with two-carbon chains has been shown to enhance the stability of these complexes even further. This provides enough stability to use the resulting compounds in applications as diverse and demanding as aqueous, green oxidation catalysis all the way to drug molecules injected into humans.

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Nitrosoarenes (ArNOs) are toxic metabolic intermediates that bind to heme proteins to inhibit their functions. Although much of their biological functions involve coordination to the Fe centers of hemes, the factors that determine N-binding or O-binding of these ArNOs have not been determined. We utilize X-ray crystallography and density functional theory (DFT) analyses of new representative ferrous and ferric ArNO compounds to provide the first theoretical insight into preferential N-binding versus O-binding of ArNOs to hemes.

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Macrocyclic ligands have been explored extensively as scaffolds for transition metal catalysts for oxygen and hydrogen atom transfer reactions. C-C reactions facilitated using earth abundant metals bound to macrocyclic ligands have not been well-understood but could be a green alternative to replacing the current expensive and toxic precious metal systems most commonly used for these processes. Therefore, the yields from direct Suzuki-Miyaura C-C coupling of phenylboronic acid and pyrrole to produce 2-phenylpyrrole facilitated by eight high-spin iron complexes ([FeL1(Cl)], [FeL4(Cl)], [FeL5(Cl)], [FeL6(Cl)], [FeL7(Cl)], [FeL8(Cl)], [FeL9(Cl)], and [FeL10(Cl)]) were compared to identify the effect of structural and electronic properties on catalytic efficiency.

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