Complexation of late transition metal(II) ions (M = Co,Ni, Cu,and Zn) by a macrocyclic thiacrown ether studied by means of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS) is used to probe the metal‐binding selectivity of a macrocyclic thiacrown ether (C₄₄H₃₂S₂₀) towards Co^II, Ni^II, Cu^II, and Zn^II. In homogeneous 1:1 v/v methanol/dichloromethane solutions, it is found that the thia ligand very selectively binds traces of copper even in the presence of an excess of the other metal ions. The large selectivity is ascribed to the redox‐active nature of copper which enables a reduction from Cu^II to Cu^I, occurring upon ESI‐MS, whereas Co^II, Ni^II and Zn^II cannot undergo similar redox reactions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Glutathione/Metallothionein System Challenges the Design of Efficient O2‐Activating Copper Complexes

Copper complexes are of medicinal and biological interest, including as anticancer drugs designed to cleave intracellular biomolecules by O₂ activation. To exhibit such activity, the copper complex must be redox active and resistant to dissociation. Metallothioneins (MTs) and glutathione (GSH) are abundant in the cytosol and nucleus. Because they are thiol‐rich reducing molecules with high Cu^I affinity, they are potential competitors for a copper ion bound in a copper drug. Herein, we report the investigation of a panel of Cu^I/Cu^II complexes often used as drugs, with diverse coordination chemistries and redox potentials. We evaluated their catalytic activity in ascorbate oxidation based on redox cycling between Cu^I and Cu^II, as well as their resistance to dissociation or inactivation under cytosolically relevant concentrations of GSH and MT. O₂‐activating Cu^I/Cu^II complexes for cytosolic/nuclear targets are generally not stable against the GSH/MT system, which creates a challenge for their future design.     

Hydrogen Bonds Dictate the Coordination Geometry of Copper: Characterization of a Square‐Planar Copper(I) Complex

6,6′′‐Bis(2,4,6‐trimethylanilido)terpyridine (H₂Tpy^NMes) was prepared as a rigid, tridentate pincer ligand containing pendent anilines as hydrogen bond donor groups in the secondary coordination sphere. The coordination geometry of (H₂Tpy^NMes)copper(I)‐halide (Cl, Br and I) complexes is dictated by the strength of the NH–halide hydrogen bond. The Cu^ICl and Cu^IICl complexes are nearly isostructural, the former presenting a highly unusual square‐planar geometry about Cu^I. The geometric constraints provided by secondary interactions are reminiscent of blue copper proteins where a constrained geometry, or entatic state, allows for extremely rapid Cu^I/Cu^II electron‐transfer self‐exchange rates. Cu(H₂Tpy^NMes)Cl shows similar fast electron transfer (≈10⁵ m ^?1 s^?1) which is the same order of magnitude as biological systems.     

Protonation of a Biologically Relevant CuII μ‐Thiolate Complex: Ligand Dissociation or Formation of a Protonated CuI Disulfide Species?

The proton‐induced electron‐transfer reaction of a Cu^II μ‐thiolate complex to a Cu^I‐containing species has been investigated, both experimentally and computationally. The Cu^II μ‐thiolate complex [Cu^II₂( L^MeS )₂]²⁺ is isolated with the new pyridyl‐containing ligand L^MeSSL^Me , which can form both Cu^II thiolate and Cu^I disulfide complexes, depending on the solvent. Both the Cu^II and the Cu^I complexes show reactivity upon addition of protons. The multivalent tetranuclear complex [Cu^I₂Cu^II₂( LS )₂(CH₃CN)₆]⁴⁺ crystallizes after addition of two equivalents of strong acid to a solution containing the μ‐thiolate complex [Cu^II₂( LS )₂]²⁺ and is further analyzed in solution. This study shows that, upon addition of protons to the Cu^II thiolate compound, the ligand dissociates from the copper centers, in contrast to an earlier report describing redox isomerization to a Cu^I disulfide species that is protonated at the pyridyl moieties. Computational studies of the protonated Cu^II μ‐thiolate and Cu^I disulfide species with LSSL show that already upon addition of two equivalents of protons, ligand dissociation forming [Cu^I(CH₃CN)₄]⁺ and protonated ligand is energetically favored over conversion to a protonated Cu^I disulfide complex.     

Molecular CuII‐O‐CuII Complexes: Still Waters Run Deep

Research on O₂ activation at ligated Cu^I is fueled by its biological relevance and the quest for efficient oxidation catalysts. A rarely observed reaction is the formation of a Cu^II‐O‐Cu^II species, which is more special than it appears at first sight: a single oxo ligand between two Cu^II centers experiences considerable electron density, and this makes the corresponding complexes reactive and difficult to access. Hence, only a small number of these compounds have been synthesized and characterized unequivocally to date, and as biological relevance was not apparent, they remained unappreciated. However, recently they moved into the spotlight, when Cu^II‐O‐Cu^II cores were proposed as the active species in the challenging oxidation of methane to methanol at the surface of a Cu‐grafted zeolite and in the active center of the copper enzyme particulate methane monooxygenase. This Minireview provides an overview of these systems with a special focus on their reactivity and spectroscopic features.     

X-ray and solution structures of Cu(II) GHK and Cu(II) DAHK complexes: influence on their redox properties

The Gly‐His‐Lys (GHK) peptide and the Asp‐Ala‐His‐Lys (DAHK) sequences are naturally occurring high‐affinity copper(II) chelators found in the blood plasma and are hence of biological interest. A structural study of the copper complexes of these peptides was conducted in the solid state and in solution by determining their X‐ray structures, and by using a large range of spectroscopies, including EPR and HYSCORE (hyperfine sub‐level correlation), X‐ray absorption and ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The results indicate that the structures of [Cu^II(DAHK)] in the solid state and in solution are similar and confirm the equatorial coordination sphere of NH₂, two amidyl N and one imidazole N. Additionally, a water molecule is bound apically to Cu^II as revealed by the X‐ray structure. As reported previously in the literature, [Cu^II(GHK)], which exhibits a dimeric structure in the solid state, forms a monomeric complex in solution with three nitrogen ligands: NH₂, amidyl and imidazole. The fourth equatorial site is occupied by a labile oxygen atom from a carboxylate ligand in the solid state. We probe that fourth position and study ternary complexes of [Cu^II(GHK)] with glycine or histidine. The Cu^II exchange reaction between different DAHK peptides is very slow, in contrast to [Cu^II(GHK)], in which the fast exchange was attributed to the presence of a [Cu^II(GHK)₂] complex. The redox properties of [Cu^II(GHK)] and [Cu^II(DAHK)] were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and by measuring the ascorbate oxidation in the presence of molecular oxygen. The measurements indicate that both Cu^II complexes are inert under moderate redox potentials. In contrast to [Cu^II(DAHK)], [Cu^II(GHK)] could be reduced to Cu^I around ?0.62 V (versus AgCl/Ag) with subsequent release of the Cu ion. These complete analyses of structure and redox activity of those complexes gave new insights with biological impact and can serve as models for other more complicated Cu^II–peptide interactions.     

The Coordination Chemistry of the Versatile Ligand Bis(2‐pyridylthio)methane

Bis(2‐pyridylthio)methane [bpytm, (pyS)₂CH₂] and complexes of this ligand with Zn^II, Hg^II, Cu^I, and Ag^I have been prepared and characterised by elemental analysis, by IR, Raman and ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, and by X‐ray diffractometry. The ligand is N, N′‐didentate in the Zn^II complexes; N‐monodentate in one Hg^II complex and N, N′‐bis(monodentate) in the other; N‐mono‐N′, S‐didentate in the Cu^I complex; and N, S′‐bis(mono)‐N′, S‐didentate in the Ag^I complex. The structural parameters of the ligand in each coordination mode are compared with those of the free ligand and those of the triiodide salt of the protonated ligand.     

Electrochemically Driven Cup‐and‐Ball CuI and CuII Complexes

The conformation of copper “funnel” complexes that contains a coordinating appended arm can be electrochemically switched between endo, which corresponds to the self‐coordination of the arm through the cavity, and exo positions. This process, which is reminiscent of a cup‐and‐ball device, is activated by an exogenous ligand for complexes that contain a hydroxy‐terminated arm. The exchange is electrochemically triggered and is operated in either Cu^I or Cu^II redox states, depending on the exogenous ligand, that is, CO or n‐butylamine, respectively.     

Isolation of the Copper Redox Steps in the Standard Selective Catalytic Reduction on Cu‐SSZ‐13

Operando X‐ray absorption experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations are reported that elucidate the role of copper redox chemistry in the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO over Cu‐exchanged SSZ‐13. Catalysts prepared to contain only isolated, exchanged Cu^II ions evidence both Cu^II and Cu^I ions under standard SCR conditions at 473 K. Reactant cutoff experiments show that NO and NH₃ together are necessary for Cu^II reduction to Cu^I. DFT calculations show that NO‐assisted NH₃ dissociation is both energetically favorable and accounts for the observed Cu^II reduction. The calculations predict in situ generation of Brønsted sites proximal to Cu^I upon reduction, which we quantify in separate titration experiments. Both NO and O₂ are necessary for oxidation of Cu^I to Cu^II, which DFT suggests to occur by a NO₂ intermediate. Reaction of Cu‐bound NO₂ with proximal NH₄⁺ completes the catalytic cycle. N₂ is produced in both reduction and oxidation half‐cycles.     

Visible‐Light‐Accelerated Copper(II)‐Catalyzed Regio‐ and Chemoselective Oxo‐Azidation of Vinyl Arenes

The visible‐light‐accelerated oxo‐azidation of vinyl arenes with trimethylsilylazide and molecular oxygen as stoichiometric oxidant was achieved. In contrast to photocatalysts based on iridium, ruthenium, or organic dyes, [Cu(dap)₂]Cl or [Cu(dap)Cl₂] were found to be unique for this transformation, which is attributed to their ability to interact with the substrates through ligand exchange and rebound mechanisms. Cu^II is proposed as the catalytically active species, which upon coordinating azide will undergo light‐accelerated homolysis to form Cu^I and azide radicals. This activation principle (Cu^II‐X→Cu^I+X^.) opens up new avenues for copper‐based photocatalysis.     

A Ruthenium(II)–Copper(II) Dyad for the Photocatalytic Oxygenation of Organic Substrates Mediated by Dioxygen Activation

Dioxygen activation by copper complexes is a valuable method to achieve oxidation reactions for sustainable chemistry. The development of a catalytic system requires regeneration of the Cu^I active redox state from Cu^II. This is usually achieved using extra reducers that can compete with the Cu^II(O₂) oxidizing species, causing a loss of efficiency. An alternative would consist of using a photosensitizer to control the reduction process. Association of a Ru^II photosensitizing subunit with a Cu^II pre‐catalytic moiety assembled within a unique entity is shown to fulfill these requirements. In presence of a sacrificial electron donor and light, electron transfer occurs from the Ru^II center to Cu^II. In presence of dioxygen, this dyad proved to be efficient for sulfide, phosphine, and alkene catalytic oxygenation. Mechanistic investigations gave evidence about a predominant ³O₂ activation pathway by the Cu^I moiety.     

The Glutathione/Metallothionein System Challenges the Design of Efficient O2-Activating Copper Complexes

Copper complexes are of medicinal and biological interest, including as anticancer drugs designed to cleave intracellular biomolecules by O₂ activation. To exhibit such activity, the copper complex must be redox active and resistant to dissociation. Metallothioneins (MTs) and glutathione (GSH) are abundant in the cytosol and nucleus. Because they are thiol-rich reducing molecules with high Cu^I affinity, they are potential competitors for a copper ion bound in a copper drug. Herein, we report the investigation of a panel of Cu^I/Cu^II complexes often used as drugs, with diverse coordination chemistries and redox potentials. We evaluated their catalytic activity in ascorbate oxidation based on redox cycling between Cu^I and Cu^II, as well as their resistance to dissociation or inactivation under cytosolically relevant concentrations of GSH and MT. O₂-activating Cu^I/Cu^II complexes for cytosolic/nuclear targets are generally not stable against the GSH/MT system, which creates a challenge for their future design.     

Combined EXAFS and DFT Structure Calculations Provide Structural Insights into the 1:1 Multi‐Histidine Complexes of CuII,CuI, and ZnII with the Tandem Octarepeats of the Mammalian Prion Protein

The metal‐coordinating properties of the prion protein (PrP) have been the subject of intense focus and debate since the first reports of its interaction with copper just before the turn of the century. The picture of metal coordination to PrP has been improved and refined over the past decade, but structural details of the various metal coordination modes have not been fully elucidated in some cases. In the present study, we have employed X‐ray absorption near‐edge spectroscopy as well as extended X‐ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy to structurally characterize the dominant 1:1 coordination modes for Cu^II, Cu^I, and Zn^II with an N‐terminal fragment of PrP. The PrP fragment corresponds to four tandem repeats representative of the mammalian octarepeat domain, designated as OR₄, which is also the most studied PrP fragment for metal interactions, making our findings applicable to a large body of previous work. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have provided additional structural and thermodynamic data, and candidate structures have been used to inform EXAFS data analysis. The optimized geometries from DFT calculations have been used to identify potential coordination complexes for multi‐histidine coordination of Cu^II, Cu^I, and Zn^II in an aqueous medium, modelled using 4‐methylimidazole to represent the histidine side chain. Through a combination of in silico coordination chemistry as well as rigorous EXAFS curve‐fitting, using full multiple scattering on candidate structures derived from DFT calculations, we have characterized the predominant coordination modes for the 1:1 complexes of Cu^II, Cu^I, and Zn^II with the OR₄ peptide at pH 7.4 at atomic resolution, which are best represented as square‐planar [Cu^II(His)₄]²⁺, digonal [Cu^I(His)₂]⁺, and tetrahedral [Zn^II(His)₃(OH₂)]²⁺, respectively.     

Copper Complexes with New Pyridylpyrazole Based Ligands

We report the synthesis, characterization, and crystal structures of new ligands of the pyridinylpyrazole type, i.e., 3,5‐bis(4‐butoxyphenyl)‐1‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)‐1H‐pyrazole ( L ¹ ) and 3,5‐bis(4‐phenoxyphenyl)‐1‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)‐1H‐pyrazole ( L ² ) (Scheme 1), and the study of their coordination behavior towards Cu^I and Cu^II. The versatility of this type of ligand, which can give access to different coordination spheres about the metal center, depending on the nature of the copper starting material used in the preparation of the complexes (Scheme 2), is illustrated. Thus, pseudo‐tetrahedral Cu^I as well as six‐coordinated tetragonal and distorted tetragonal pyramidal Cu^II derivatives were obtained for [Cu(L)₂]PF₆, [Cu(Cl)₂(L)₂] (L= L ¹ , L ² ), and [Cu(Cl)( L ¹ )₂]PF₆, respectively. We also present a crystallographic support of a distorted octahedral cis‐bis(tetrafluoroborato‐κF)copper(II) compound found for [Cu(BF₄)₂( L ¹ )₂] ( 3 ).     

A Remarkable cis‐ and trans‐Spanning Dibenzylidene Acetone Diphosphine Chelating Ligand (dbaphos)

A multidentate and flexible diolefin–diphosphine ligand, based on the dibenzylidene acetone core, namely dbaphos ( 1 ), is reported herein. The ligand adopts an array of different geometries at Pt, Pd and Rh. At Pt^II the dbaphos ligand forms cis‐ and trans‐diphosphine complexes and can be defined as a wide‐angle spanning ligand. ¹H NMR spectroscopic analysis shows that the β‐hydrogen of one olefin moiety interacts with the Pt^II centre (an anagostic interaction), which is supported by DFT calculations. At Pd⁰ and Rh^I, the dbaphos ligand exhibits both olefin and phosphine interactions with the metal centres. The Pd⁰ complex of dbaphos is dinuclear, with bridging diphosphines. The complex exhibits the coordination of one olefin moiety, which is in dynamic exchange (intramolecular) with the other “free” olefin. The Pd⁰ complex of dbaphos reacts with iodobenzene to afford trans‐[Pd^II(dbaphos)I(Ph)]. In the case of Rh^I, dbaphos coordinates to form a structure in which the phosphine and olefin moieties occupy both axial and equatorial sites, which stands in contrast to a related bidentate olefin, phosphine ligand (“Lei” ligand), in which the olefins occupy the equatorial sites and phosphines the axial sites, exclusively.     

Syntheses and crystal structures of two heterometallic iodoplumbates containing mixed‐valence copper(I/II)

Mixed‐valence copper(I/II) atoms have been introduced successfully into a Pb/I skeleton to obtain two heterometallic iodoplumbates, namely poly[bis(tetra‐n‐butylammonium) [bis(μ₃‐dimethyldithiocarbamato)dodeca‐μ₃‐iodido‐hexa‐μ₂‐iodido‐tetracopper(I)copper(II)hexalead(II)]], {(C₁₆H₃₆N)₂[Cu₄^ICu^IIPb₆(C₃H₆NS₂)₂I₁₈]}_n , (I), and poly[[μ₃‐iodido‐tri‐μ₂‐iodido‐iodido[bis(1,10‐phenanthroline)copper(I)]copper(I)copper(II)lead(II)] hemiiodine], {[Cu^ICu^IIPbI₅(C₁₂H₈N₂)₂]·0.5I₂}_n , (II), under solution and solvothermal conditions, respectively. Compound (I) contains two‐dimensional anionic layers, which are built upon the linkages of Cu^II(S₂CNMe₂)₂ units and one‐dimensional anionic Pb/I/Cu^I chains. Tetra‐n‐butylammonium cations are located between the anionic layers and connected to them via C—H…I hydrogen‐bonding interactions. Compound (II) exhibits a one‐dimensional neutral structure, which is composed of [PbI₅] square pyramids, [Cu^II₄] tetrahedra and [Cu^IIN₄I] trigonal bipyramids. Face‐to‐face aromatic π–π stacking interactions between adjacent 1,10‐phenanthroline ligands stabilize the structure and assemble compound (II) into a three‐dimensional supramolecular structure. I₂ molecules lie in the voids of the structure.     

Key Intermediate Species Reveal the Copper(II)‐Exchange Pathway in Biorelevant ATCUN/NTS Complexes

The amino‐terminal copper and nickel/N‐terminal site (ATCUN/NTS) present in proteins and bioactive peptides exhibits high affinity towards Cu^II ions and have been implicated in human copper physiology. Little is known, however, about the rate and exact mechanism of formation of such complexes. We used the stopped‐flow and microsecond freeze‐hyperquenching (MHQ) techniques supported by steady‐state spectroscopic and electrochemical data to demonstrate the formation of partially coordinated intermediate Cu^II complexes formed by glycyl–glycyl–histidine (GGH) peptide, the simplest ATCUN/NTS model. One of these novel intermediates, characterized by two‐nitrogen coordination, t_1/2≈100 ms at pH 6.0 and the ability to maintain the Cu^II/Cu^I redox pair is the best candidate for the long‐sought reactive species in extracellular copper transport.     

A mixed‐valence chair‐like tetranuclear copper(I,II) cluster with three linking modes of the 3,5‐bis(2‐pyridyl)‐1,2,4‐triazole ligand

In the tetranuclear copper complex tetrakis[μ‐3,5‐bis(2‐pyridyl)‐1,2,4‐triazolido]bis[3,5‐bis(2‐pyridyl)‐1,2,4‐triazolido]dicopper(I)dicopper(II) dihydrate, [Cu^I₂Cu^II₂(C₁₂H₈N₅)₆]·2H₂O, the asymmetric unit is composed of one Cu^I center, one Cu^II center, three anionic 3,5‐bis(2‐pyridyl)‐1,2,4‐triazole (2‐BPT) ligands and one solvent water molecule. The Cu^I and Cu^II centers exhibit [Cu^IN₄] tetrahedral and [Cu^IIN₆] octahedral coordination environments, respectively. The three independent 2‐BPT ligands adopt different chelating modes, which link the copper centers to generate a chair‐like tetranuclear metallomacrocycle with metal–metal distances of about 4.4 × 6.2 Å disposed about a crystallographic inversion center. Furthermore, strong π–π stacking interactions and O—H...N hydrogen‐bonding systems link the tetracopper clusters into a two‐dimensional supramolecular network.     

An Adaptable N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Macrocycle Hosting Copper in Three Oxidation States

A neutral hybrid macrocycle with two trans‐positioned N‐heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) and two pyridine donors hosts copper in three oxidation states (+I–+III) in a series of structurally characterized complexes ( 1 – 3 ). Redox interconversion of [LCu]^+/2+/3+ is electrochemically (quasi)reversible and occurs at moderate potentials (E_1/2=?0.45 V and +0.82 V (vs. Fc/Fc⁺)). A linear C^NHC‐Cu‐C^NHC arrangement and hemilability of the two pyridine donors allows the ligand to adapt to the different stereoelectronic and coordination requirements of Cu^I versus Cu^II/Cu^III. Analytical methods such as NMR, UV/Vis, IR, electron paramagnetic resonance, and Cu Kβ high‐energy‐resolution fluorescence detection X‐ray absorption spectroscopies, as well as DFT calculations, give insight into the geometric and electronic structures of the complexes. The XAS signatures of 1 – 3 are textbook examples for Cu^I, Cu^II, and Cu^III species. Facile 2‐electron interconversion combined with the exposure of two basic pyridine N sites in the reduced Cu^I form suggest that [LCu]^+/2+/3+ may operate in catalysis via coupled 2 e^?/2 H⁺ transfer.