Dioxygen reduction by multi-copper oxidases; a structural perspective

The multi-copper oxidases oxidise substrate molecules by accepting electrons at a mononuclear copper centre and transferring them to a trinuclear centre. Dioxygen binds to the trinuclear centre and, following the transfer of four electrons, is reduced to two molecules of water. The precise mechanism of this reduction has been unclear, but recent X-ray structural studies using the CotA endospore coat protein from Bacillus subtilis have given further insights into the principal stages. It is proposed that the mechanism involves binding of the dioxygen into the trinuclear centre so that it is sited approximately symmetrically between the two type 3 copper ions with one oxygen atom close to the type 2 copper ion. Further stages involve the formation of a peroxide intermediate and following the splitting of this intermediate, the migration of the hydroxide moieties towards the solvent exit channel. The migration steps are likely to involve a movement of the type 2 copper ion and its environment. Details of a putative mechanism are described herein based both on structures already reported in the literature and on structures of the CotA protein in the oxidised and reduced states and with the addition of peroxide and the inhibitor, azide.     

Synthesis of a Novel Nickel(II) Complex with Dithiocarbimate from Sulfonamide

Potassium N-4-methylphenylsulfonyldithiocarbimate, K₂(4-CH₃C₆H₄SO₂N=CS₂), reacted with nickel(II) chloride hexahydrate and tetrabutylammonium bromide to form the bis(N-4-methylphenylsulfonyldithiocarbimate)nickelate(II) tetrabutylammonium salt (Bu₄N)₂[Ni(4-CH₃C₆H₄S₂C=NSO₂)₂]. The elemental analyses, IR and UV-Vis data obtained were consistent with the formation of a diamagnetic planar complex. The ¹H NMR and the ¹³C NMR spectra showed the expected signals for the dithiocarbimate moiety and the tetrabutylammonium cation. The single-crystal structure analysis showed that this substance crystallizes in the triclinic space group with a = 10.474(3) Å, b = 10.767(3) Å, c = 13.657(3) Å and = 81.54(2)°, = 80.44(2)°, = 67.63(2)°, V = 1398.5(8) ų, and Z = 2. The nickel atom is coordinated to four sulfur atoms.     

Determination of Cysteine using the Fluorescence from a L-Tyrosine-Copper(II) Complex

A simple and sensitive method for the determination of cysteine is reported based on fluorescence quenching and recovery of L-tyrosine. At pH 10, copper(II) reacted with L-tyrosine to form a 1:1 complex that resulted in the quenching of L-tyrosine. However, the quenched fluorescence of L-tyrosine was recovered upon adding cysteine due to the strong affinity between these components. Under the optimized conditions, the recovered fluorescence was linearly proportional to the concentration of cysteine from 6.5?×?10^?7 to 4?×?10^?5?mol?L^?1 with a detection limit of 7.32?×?10^?8?mol?L^?1, demonstrating high sensitivity for the determination of cysteine. The mechanisms of fluorescence quenching and recovery were characterized and the method was used to determine cysteine in a pharmaceutical product with satisfactory results.     

Topological insulators from a chemist's perspective

Heavy stuff: Topological insulators are formed of heavy atoms and host special surface or edge states. The electronic structure is characterized by a Dirac cone within a bulk band gap (see picture) that is generated by strong spin-orbit coupling. A chemist's perspective in terms of bonds, bands, symmetry, and nuclear charge is provided.     

Benzonitrile Hydrolysis Catalyzed by a Ruthenium(II) Complex

The rate constant for the basic hydrolysis of benzonitrile (PhCN) to benzamide (PhCONH₂) in the [Ru^II(tpy)(bpy)] moiety (tpy = 2,2' : 6',2"-terpyridine, bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) (k_OH = 3.7 2 10^-2 M^-1s^-1) is 5 2 10³ times higher than that of the free ligand and two times higher than that corresponding to the analogous acetonitrile complex. This effect is unusual for a transition metal in the (II) oxidation state, and can be attributed to the π-electron acceptor properties of both the polypyridyl ligands and the phenyl group. Since amides, being poor π-acceptor ligands, are rapidly released from the coordination sphere of ruthenium(II), the final product of this process is the [Ru(tpy)(bpy)(OH)]⁺ complex. The activation parameters for this nitrile hydrolysis have been determined and compare reasonably well with other values for similar reactions.     

Complex of palladium(II) with a macrocylic ligand derived from thiophene-2,5-carboxamide and bipyrrole

The interaction of a Pd(II) salt with macrocyclic ligand 1 containing thiophene-2,5-carboxamide and bipyrrole fragments is studied. It is demonstrated that only mono-palladium complex 2 is formed in the reaction of PdCl₂(CH₃CN)₂ with ligand 1. Complex 2 was isolated as crystalline compound 2b additionally involving also triethylammonium acetate and solvent molecules. According to single crystal XRD data, the crystals of complex 2b have the composition of [C₅₀H₄₅N₆O₄PdS]^?[C₆H₁₆N]₊· 1/4(C₅H₁₂)·CH₂Cl₂, triclinic, space group \(P\bar 1\), a = 14.9608(5) Å, b = 17.5574(6) Å, c = 22.5893(8) Å, α = 75.218(5)°, β = 74.086(5)°, γ = 81.244(5)°, V = 5495.7(4) ų, Z = 4 (two independent formula units), d _calc = 1.375 g/cm³, μ = 0.526 mm^?1. The central atom of palladium(II) is coordinated with amide, imine, pyrrole nitrogen atoms, and the oxygen atom of triethylammonium acetate.     

Cluster packing from a higher dimensional perspective

The way to find the optimum packing of quasicrystal-constituting clusters is discussed based on the projected-cell approach. We illustrate why the quasiperiodic arrangement of partially overlapping clusters with decagonal or icosahedral symmetry is the most efficient one, by relating it to the packing of unit cells in hypercubic lattices.     

Activation of Dioxygen at a Lewis Acidic Nickel(II) Complex: Characterization of a Metastable Organoperoxide Complex

In metal‐mediated O₂ activation, nickel(II) compounds hardly play a role, but recently it has been shown that enzymes can use nickel(II) for O₂ activation. Now a low‐coordinate Lewis acidic nickel(II) complex has been synthesized that reacts with O₂ to give a nickel(II) organoperoxide, as proposed for the enzymatic system. Its formation was studied further by UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy, leading to the observation of a short‐lived intermediate that proved to be reactive in both oxygen atom transfer and hydrogen abstraction reactions, while the peroxide efficiently transfers O atoms. Both for the enzyme and for the functional model, the key to O₂ activation is proposed to represent a concomitant electron shift from the substrate/co‐ligand.     

Dinitrogen Activation Upon Reduction of a Triiron(II) Complex

Reaction of a trinuclear iron(II) complex, Fe₃Br₃ L ( 1 ), with KC₈ under N₂ leads to dinitrogen activation products ( 2 ) from which Fe₃(NH)₃ L ( 2‐1 ; L is a cyclophane bridged by three β‐diketiminate arms) was characterized by X‐ray crystallography. ¹H NMR spectra of the protonolysis product of 2 synthesized under ¹⁴N₂ and ¹⁵N₂ confirm atmospheric N₂ reduction, and ammonia is detected by the indophenol assay (yield ～30 %). IR and Mössbauer spectroscopy, and elemental analysis on 2 and 2‐1 as well as the tri(amido)triiron(II) 3 and tri(methoxo)triiron 4 congeners support our assignment of the reduction product as containing protonated N‐atom bridges.     

Off-on-off Luminescent Switching of a Novel Ru(II) Complex

There has been explosive interest in the synthesis and applications of novel Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes with respect to molecular sensors1,2, switches3, and sensitizers of Gr鋞zel solar cells based on nanocrystalline TiO24. Here we report a novel Ru(II) complex, which can serve as pH-induced remarkable off-on-off luminescent switch. Scheme 1 The acid-base equilibria of the complex UV-vis absorption and emission spectroscopic pH titration experiments of the Ru complex wit…     

A Trigonal Prismatic Cobalt(II) Complex as a Single Molecule Magnet with a Reduced Contribution from Quantum Tunneling

Herein, we report a new trigonal prismatic cobalt(II) complex that behaves as a single molecule magnet. The obtained zero-field splitting, which is also directly accessed by THz-EPR spectroscopy (−102.5 cm⁻¹), results in a large magnetization reversal barrier U of 205 cm⁻¹. Its effective value, however, is much lower (101 cm⁻¹), even though there is practically no contribution from quantum tunneling to magnetization relaxation.     

Nobel Prize and structural chemistry II

During the past six decades, most discoveries in chemistry had structural aspects. Our brief overview selected some of the most conspicuous cases that were recognized by Nobel Prizes. They include studies of the chemical bond and stereochemical aspects, new methodologies of structure determination, and the structure of new materials.     

Generation of a Hetero Spin Complex from Iron(II) Iodide with Redox Active Acenaphthene-1,2-Diimine

The reaction of the redox active 1,2-bis[(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imino]acenaphthene (dpp-BIAN) and iron(II) iodide in acetonitrile led to a new complex [(dpp-BIAN)Fe^III₂] (1). Molecular structure of 1 was determined by the single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The spin state of the iron cation in complex 1 at room temperature and the magnetic behavior of 1 in the temperature range of 2–300 K were studied using Mossbauer spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility measurements, respectively. The neutral character of dpp-BIAN in 1 was confirmed by IR and UV spectroscopy. The electrochemistry of 1 was studied in solution and solid state using cyclic voltammetry. The generation of the radical anion form of the dpp-BIAN ligand upon reduction of 1 in a CH₂Cl₂ solution was monitored by EPR spectroscopy.     

Dynamical mean-field theory from a quantum chemical perspective

We investigate the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) from a quantum chemical perspective. Dynamical mean-field theory offers a formalism to extend quantum chemical methods for finite systems to infinite periodic problems within a local correlation approximation. In addition, quantum chemical techniques can be used to construct new ab initio Hamiltonians and impurity solvers for DMFT. Here, we explore some ways in which these things may be achieved. First, we present an informal overview of dynamical mean-field theory to connect to quantum chemical language. Next, we describe an implementation of dynamical mean-field theory where we start from an ab initio Hartree-Fock Hamiltonian that avoids double counting issues present in many applications of DMFT. We then explore the use of the configuration interaction hierarchy in DMFT as an approximate solver for the impurity problem. We also investigate some numerical issues of convergence within DMFT. Our studies are carried out in the context of the cubic hydrogen model, a simple but challenging test for correlation methods. Finally, we finish with some conclusions for future directions.     

Regulation of plastic from a circular economy perspective

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