Protonation and Non-Innocent Ligand Behavior in Pyranopterin Dithiolene Molybdenum Complexes.

The complex [TEA][Tp*Mo(O)(SBMOPP)] () [TEA = tetraethylammonium, Tp* = tris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)hydroborate, and BMOPP = 6-(3-butynyl-2-methyl-2-ol)-2-pivaloyl pterin] is a structural analogue of the molybdenum cofactor common to all pyranopterin molybdenum enzymes because it possesses a pyranopterin-ene-1,2-dithiolate ligand (SBMOPP) that exists primarily in the ring-closed pyrano structure as a resonance hybrid of ene-dithiolate and thione-thiolate forms. Compound , the protonated [Tp*Mo(O)(SBMOPP-H)] () and one-electron-oxidized [Tp*Mo(O)(SBMOPP)] [] species have been studied using a combination of electrochemistry, electronic absorption, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Additional insight into the nature of these molecules has been derived from electronic structure computations.