Unravelling the intrinsic features of NO binding to iron(II)- and iron(III)-hemes

Electrospray ionization of appropriate precursors is used to deliver [Fe (III)-heme] (+) and [Fe (II)-hemeH] (+) ions as naked species in the gas phase where their ion chemistry has been examined by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry. In the naked, four-coordinate [Fe (II)-hemeH] (+) and [Fe (III)-heme] (+) ions, the intrinsic reactivity of iron(II)- and iron(III)-hemes is revealed free from any influence due to axial ligand, counterion, or solvent effects. Ligand (L) addition and ligand transfer equilibria with a series of selected neutrals are attained when [Fe (II)-hemeH] (+), corresponding to protonated Fe (II)-heme, is allowed to react in the FT-ICR cell. A Heme Cation Basicity (HCB) ladder for the various ligands toward [Fe (II)-hemeH] (+), corresponding to -Delta G degrees for the process [Fe (II)-hemeH] (+) + L --> [Fe (II)-hemeH(L)] (+) and named HCB (II), can thus be established. The so-obtained HCB (II) values are compared with the corresponding HCB (III) values for [Fe (III)-heme] (+). In spite of pronounced differences displayed by various ligands, NO shows a quite similar HCB of about 67 kJ mol (-1) at 300 K toward both ions, estimated to correspond to a binding energy of 124 kJ mol (-1). Density Functional Theory (DFT) computations confirm the experimental results, yielding very similar values of NO binding energies to [Fe (II)-hemeH] (+) and [Fe (III)-heme] (+), equal to 140 and 144 kJ mol (-1), respectively. The kinetic study of the NO association reaction supports the equilibrium HCB data and reveals that the two species share very close rate constant values both for the forward and for the reverse reaction. These gas phase results diverge markedly from the kinetics and thermodynamic behavior of NO binding to iron(II)- and iron(III)-heme proteins and model complexes in solution. The requisite of either a very labile or a vacant coordination site on iron for a facile addition of NO to occur, suggested to explain the bias for typically five-coordinate iron(II) species in solution, is fully supported by the present work.     

Mechanistic studies on the reversible binding of nitric oxide to metmyoglobin.

The ferriheme protein metmyoglobin (metMb) in buffer solution at physiological pH 7.4 reversibly binds the biomessenger molecule nitric oxide to yield the nitrosyl adduct (metMb(NO)). The kinetics of the association and dissociation processes were investigated by both laser flash photolysis and stopped-flow kinetics techniques at ambient and high pressure, in three laboratories using several different sources of metMb. The activation parameters DeltaH, DeltaS, and DeltaV were calculated from the kinetic effects of varying temperature and hydrostatic pressure. For the "on" reaction of metMb plus NO, reasonable agreement was found between the various techniques with DeltaH(on), DeltaS(on), and DeltaV(on) determined to have the respective values approximately 65 kJ mol(-1), approximately 60 J mol(-1) K(-1), and approximately 20 cm(3) mol(-1). The large and positive DeltaS and DeltaV values are consistent with the operation of a limiting dissociative ligand substitution mechanism whereby dissociation of the H(2)O occupying the sixth distal coordination site of metMb must precede formation of the Fe-NO bond. While the activation enthalpies of the "off" reaction displayed reasonable agreement between the various techniques (ranging from 68 to 83 kJ mol(-1)), poorer agreement was found for the DeltaS(off) values. For this reason, the kinetics for the "off" reaction were determined more directly via NO trapping experiments, which gave the respective activation parameters DeltaH(off) = 76 kJ mol(-1), DeltaS(off) = approximately 41 J mol(-1) K(-1), and DeltaV(off) = 20 cm(3) mol(-1)), again consistent with a limiting dissociative mechanism. These results are discussed in reference to other investigations of the reactions of NO with both model systems and metalloproteins.     

NIR spectroscopy of selected iron(II) and iron(III) sulphates

A problem exists when closely related minerals are found in paragenetic relationships. The identification of such minerals cannot be undertaken by normal techniques such as X-ray diffraction. Vibrational spectroscopic techniques may be applicable especially when microtechniques or fibre-optic techniques are used. NIR spectroscopy is one technique, which can be used for the identification of these paragenetically related minerals and has been applied to the study of selected iron(II) and iron(III) sulphates. The near-IR spectral regions may be conveniently divided into four regions: (a) the high wavenumber region>7500 cm(-1), (b) the high wavenumber region between 6400 and 7400 cm(-1) attributed to the first overtone of the fundamental hydroxyl stretching mode, (c) the 5500-6300 cm(-1) region attributed to water combination modes of the hydroxyl fundamentals of water, and (d) the 4000-5500 cm(-1) region attributed to the combination of the stretching and deformation modes of the iron(II) and iron(III) sulphates. The minerals containing iron(II) show a strong, broad band with splitting, around 11,000-8000 cm(-1) attributed to (5)T(2g)-->(5)E(g) transition. This shows the ferrous ion has distorted octahedral coordination in some of these sulphate minerals. For each of these regions, the minerals show distinctive spectra, which enable their identification and characterisation. NIR spectroscopy is a less used technique, which has great application for the study of minerals, particularly minerals that have hydrogen in the structure either as hydroxyl units or as water bonded to the cation as is the case for iron(II) and iron(III) sulphates. The study of minerals on planets is topical and NIR spectroscopy provides a rapid technique for the distinction and identification of iron(II) and iron(III) sulphates minerals.     

Volume profile analysis for the reversible binding of superoxide to form iron(II)-superoxo/Iron(III)-peroxo porphyrin complexes

The one-electron reduced iron(II)-dioxygen adduct, {Fe(II)-O(2)}(-), is known to be an important intermediate in the catalytic cycle of heme (mono)oxygenases. The same type of species, considered as Fe(III)-peroxo, can be formed in a direct reaction between a Fe(II) center and superoxide. In a unique high-pressure study of the reaction between superoxide and the Fe(II) complex of a crown ether porphyrin conjugate in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), the overall Fe(II)-superoxide interaction mechanism could be visualized and the nature of all species that occur along the reaction coordinate could be clarified. The equilibrium between the low-spin and high-spin forms of the starting Fe(II) complex was quantified, which turns out to be the actual activation step toward substitution and subsequent inner-sphere electron transfer reactions. The constructed reaction volume profile demonstrates that the reaction product consists of Fe(III)-peroxo and Fe(II)-superoxo species that exist in equilibrium, which can better account for the versatile reactivity of {Fe(II)-O(2)}(-) adducts toward different substrates.     

Mechanistic information from pressure acceleration of hydride formation via proton binding to a cobalt(I) macrocycle

The effect of pressure on proton binding to the racemic isomer of the cobalt(I) macrocycle, CoL(+) (L = 5,7,7,12,14,14-hexamethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradeca-4,11-diene), has been studied for a series of proton donors using pulse radiolysis techniques. The second-order rate constants for the reaction of CoL(+) with proton donors decrease with increasing pK(a) of the donor acid, consistent with a reaction occurring via proton transfer. Whereas the corresponding volumes of activation (DeltaV) are rather small and negative for all acids (proton donors) with pK(a) values below 8.5, significantly larger negative activation volumes are found for weaker acids (pK(a) > 9.5) containing OH groups as proton donors. In the latter case, the observed DeltaV for these protonation reactions show a correlation with the reaction volumes (DeltaV degrees (ion)) for the ionization of the weak acids with a slope of 0.44, indicating that bond dissociation of the weak acid molecule bound to the metal center proceeds approximately halfway at the transition state along the reaction coordinate in terms of volume changes.     

Interior aliphatic C-H bond activation on iron(II) N-confused porphyrin through synergistic nitric oxide binding and iron oxidation

Iron oxidation, in conjunction with NO coordination, achieved a C-H bond activation to convert [Fe(II)(HCTPPCH(3))Br] into [Fe(HCTPPCH(2))(NO)](BF(4)) at ambient temperature. The structural data and theoretical calculations confirmed the role of nitric oxide behaving as a π-accepting ligand to assist the C-H bond activation.     

Mechanistic study on iron(II)-mediated direct arylation of benzene with chlorobenzene

Density functional theory calculations on the reaction mechanisms of the direct arylation of benzene with chlorobenzene mediated by a series of low-valent iron complexes, in which the Fe(II) center is surrounded by different electron-donor ligands (acetate anion (OAc), baphophenanthroline (baph), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen), and redox active ligand amidophenolate (ap)) using density functional theory. Fe(II) models, 1b Fe^II(baph), 1p Fe^II(phen), 1d Fe^II(diimine), 2o Fe^II(OAc)₂, 2po Fe^II(OAc)(phen), 2p Fe^II(phen)₂ as well as 2a Fe^II(ap)₂ were established. According to our calculations, 1b and 2a are promising candidates for the direct arylation transformation. The complexes under different ligands show their unique mechanism characteristics. Furthermore, a correlation has been established among the activation barriers, the energy gaps of frontier orbitals, the distortion energies, as well as the reaction enthalpies. The knowledge obtained herein not only deepens our mechanistic understanding of iron-mediated direct arylation but may also provide guidance for the rational design of catalysts.     

Hemilabile and reversible carbon monoxide binding properties of iron(II), cobalt(II) and nickel(II) complexes containing a new tridentate P-S-N ligand

Several first-row transition metal complexes of the formulation [M(1)(2)](X)(2) {where 1 = Ph(2)PCH(2)CH(2)S(2-C(6)H(4)NH(2)); M = Fe(II), X = BF(4)(-) (2); M = Co(II), X = BF(4)(-) (3), Ni(II), X = ClO(4)(-) (4)} have been prepared by reaction of two equivalents of the new P-S-N ligand Ph(2)PCH(2)CH(2)S(2-C(6)H(4)NH(2)) 1 with one equivalent of the appropriate [M(OH(2))(6)](X)(2) precursor in acetonitrile. In the solid state, complexes 2-4 exist as distorted centrosymmetric octahedral structures featuring facially capping ligands in an all-trans arrangement. Reaction of 2 and 3 with a stream of carbon monoxide (1 atm.) for 5 min in acetonitrile generates iron(II) monocarbonyl species of formulation [Fe(CO)(1)(2)](BF(4))(2)2a, and a cobalt(II) dicarbonyl complex, [Co(CO)(2)(1)(2)](BF(4))(2)3a, which can be isolated in the solid state. Complete removal of CO is achieved by either heating to reflux samples of 2a in acetonitrile for 5 min or by heating solid samples of 3a at 120 °C in vacuo over a period of 4 h. The binding of carbon monoxide is fully reversible for 2 and 3 and can be repeated over multiple cycles. When the same trapping reactions were carried out with very low radiochemical (11)CO concentrations, metal carbonyl species were no longer formed. It is likely that the kinetics of (11)CO adduct formation are too slow to allow for effective trapping under the applied radiochemical conditions.     

O2 and CO binding to tetraaza-tripodal-capped iron(II) porphyrins

A series of tris(2-aminoethylamine) (tren) capped iron(II) porphyrins has been synthesized and characterized and their affinities for dioxygen and carbon monoxide measured. The X-ray structure of the basic scaffold with nickel inserted in the porphyrin is also reported. All the ligands differ by the nature of the group(s) attached to the secondary amine functions of the cap. These various substitutions were introduced to probe if a hydrogen bond with these secondary amine groups acting as the donor could rationalize the high affinity of these myoglobin models. This work clearly indicates that the cage structure of the tren predominates over all the other appended groups with the exception of p-nitrophenol.     

NO* release from MbFe(II)NO and HbFe(II)NO after oxidation by peroxynitrite

In this work, we showed that the reaction of peroxynitrite with MbFe(II)NO, in analogy to the corresponding reaction with HbFe(II)NO (Herold, S. Inorg. Chem. 2004, 43, 3783-3785), proceeds in two steps via the formation of MbFe(III)NO, from which NO* dissociates to produce iron(III)myoglobin (Mb = myoglobin; Hb = hemoglobin). The second-order rate constants for the first steps are on the order of 10(4) and 10(3) M(-1) s(-1), for the reaction of peroxynitrite with MbFe(II)NO and HbFe(II)NO, respectively. For both proteins, we found that the values of the second-order rate constants increase with decreasing pH, an observation that suggests that HOONO is the species responsible for oxidation of the iron center. Nevertheless, it cannot be excluded that the pH-dependence arises from different conformations taken up by the proteins at different pH values. In the presence of 1.2 mM CO2, the values of the second-order rate constants are larger, on the order of 10(5) and 10(4) M(-1) s(-1), for the reaction of peroxynitrite with MbFe(II)NO and HbFe(II)NO, respectively. The pH-dependence of the values for the reaction with MbFe(II)NO suggests that ONOOCO2- or the radicals produced from its decay (CO3*-/NO2*) are responsible for the oxidation of MbFe(II)NO to MbFe(III)NO. In the presence of large amounts of nitrite (in the tens and hundreds of millimoles range), we observed a slight acceleration of the rate of oxidation of HbFe(II)NO by peroxynitrite. A catalytic rate constant of 40 +/- 2 M(-1) s(-1) was determined at pH 7.0. Preliminary studies of the reaction between nitrite and HbFe(II)NO showed that this compound also can oxidize the iron center, albeit at a significantly slower rate. At pH 7.0, we obtained an approximate second-order rate constant of 3 x 10(-3) M(-1) s(-1).     

Amidino-containing Schiff base copper(II) and iron(III) chelates as a thrombin inhibitor

Four series of Schiff base copper(II) and iron(III) chelates were synthesized from 4-formyl-3-hydroxybenzamidine or 3-formyl-4-hydroxybenzamidine and various L- or D-amino acids. Their inhibitory activities for bovine alpha-thrombin (abbreviated as thrombin) were determined. The most potent thrombin inhibitor in this series is copper(II) chelate (1g') derived from 4-formyl-3-hydroxybenzamidine and D-Trp. Its Ki value, 2.7x10(-8) M, is comparable to that of Argatroban (MD-805), which is a clinically used compound. The iron(III) chelates derived from 4-formyl-3-hydroxybenzamidine and hydrophobic L-amino acids (Val, Ile, Leu, Phe, Trp, Met) also exhibited higher inhibitory potency. It appears that coordination geometry composed of metal ion, amidino group, amino acid side chain is well accommodated to the thrombin active site. From the Ki values of Schiff base metal chelates for thrombin, the structure-activity relationships between the chelates and active site of thrombin were discussed.     

NO orientation and tilting in (nitrosyl)iron(II) deuteroporphyrin IX

To investigate issues concerning the coordination of the nitrosyl ligand in naturally occurring hemes, we report the spectroscopy and X-ray structure of five-coordinate [Fe(Deut)(NO)]. Bonding parameters are comparable with those observed for previously characterized synthetic porphyrin complexes of this type. The asymmetric pattern of the peripheral substitution of the porphyrin core allows us to examine aspects associated with ligand binding and orientation previously unobserved in the symmetrical synthetic porphyrins. The nitrosyl is found to be oriented in the direction of the less basic pyrrole rings. This observed orientation of the NO is considered in reference to those orientations reported in a series of related protein structures. Off-axis tilting, a property associated with ordered (nitrosyl)iron(II) porphyrinates, is also investigated.     

C-H activation of diphenylphosphinoaryl-derivatives with dimethyltetrakis(trimethylphosphine)iron(II)

Fe(CH₃)₂(PMe₃)₄ reacts with 1-(diphenylphosphino)naphthalene or benzyldiphenylphosphine within 4 h at 20 °C to give the novel metallated methyl iron complexes Fe(CH₃){P(C₆H₅)₂(C₁₀H₆)}(PMe₃)₃ (1) and Fe(CH₃){(C₆H₄)CH₂P(C₆H₅)₂}(PMe₃)₃ (3), respectively, via selective activation of the C-H bond of the pre-chelating ligands. The complexes are thermally unstable releasing metal through a reductive elimination of the aromatic backbone and leading to a C,C-coupling product that is regiospecifically methylated, namely 8-methyl(diphenylphosphino)naphthalene (2). Carbonylation (1 bar, 20 °C, 1 h) of complex 1 effects monosubstitution of a trimethylphosphine ligand trans to the metallated 8-C atom to afford Fe(CH₃){P(C₆H₅)₂(C₁₀H₆)}(CO)(PMe₃)₂ (4). The remaining methyl group in the parent complex 1 reacts with trimethylsilylethyne and tert-butylethyne affording the new complexes 5 and 6 bearing an alkynyl substituent trans to the diphenylphosphino anchoring group. The complexes 1 and 3-6 are diamagnetic and possess octahedral coordination geometry. All novel complexes were fully characterized by spectroscopic methods and by X-ray diffraction.     

A comparative mechanistic study of the reversible binding of NO to a water-soluble octa-cationic Fe(III) porphyrin complex

The water-soluble, non-mu-oxo dimer-forming porphyrin, [5,10,15,20-tetrakis-4'-t-butylphenyl-2',6'-bis-(N-methylene-(4'-t-butylpyridinium))porphyrinato]iron(III) octabromide, (P(8+))Fe(III), with eight positively charged substituents in the ortho positions of the phenyl rings, was characterized by UV-vis and 1H NMR spectroscopy and 17O NMR water-exchange studies in aqueous solution. Spectrophotometric titrations of (P(8+))Fe(III) indicated a pKa1 value of 5.0 for coordinated water in (P(8+))Fe(III)(H2O)2. The monohydroxo-ligated (P(8+))Fe(III)(OH)(H2O) formed at 5 < pH < 12 has a weakly bound water molecule that undergoes an exchange reaction, k(ex) = 2.4 x 10(6) s(-1), significantly faster than water exchange on (P(8+))Fe(III)(H2O)2, viz. k(ex) = 5.5 x 10(4) s(-1) at 25 degrees C. The porphyrin complex reacts with nitric oxide to yield the nitrosyl adduct, (P(8+))Fe(II)(NO+)(L) (L = H2O or OH-). The diaqua-ligated (P(8+))Fe(III)(H2O)2 binds and releases NO according to a dissociatively activated mechanism, analogous to that reported earlier for other (P)Fe(III)(H2O)2 complexes. Coordination of NO to (P(8+))Fe(III)(OH)(H2O) at high pH follows an associative mode, as evidenced by negative deltaS(double dagger)(on) and deltaV(double dagger)(on) values measured for this reaction. The observed ca. 10-fold decrease in the NO binding rate on going from six-coordinate (P(8+))Fe(III)(H2O)2 (k(on) = 15.1 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1)) to (P(8+))Fe(III)(OH)(H2O) (k(on) = 1.56 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1) at 25 degrees C) is ascribed to the different nature of the rate-limiting step for NO binding at low and high pH, respectively. The results are compared with data reported for other water-soluble iron(III) porphyrins with positively and negatively charged meso substituents. Influence of the porphyrin periphery on the dynamics of reversible NO binding to these (P)Fe(III) complexes as a function of pH is discussed on the basis of available experimental data.     

Mechanistic information on the reductive elimination from cationic trimethylplatinum(IV) complexes to form carbon-carbon bonds

Cationic complexes of the type fac-[(L(2))Pt(IV)Me(3)(pyr-X)][OTf] (pyr-X = 4-substituted pyridines; L(2) = diphosphine, viz., dppe = bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane and dppbz = o-bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene; OTf = trifluoromethanesulfonate) undergo C-C reductive elimination reactions to form [L(2)Pt(II)Me(pyr-X)][OTf] and ethane. Detailed studies indicate that these reactions proceed by a two-step pathway, viz., initial reversible dissociation of the pyridine ligand from the cationic complex to generate a five-coordinate Pt(IV) intermediate, followed by irreversible concerted C-C bond formation. The reaction is inhibited by pyridine. The highly positive values for DeltaS()(obs) = +180 +/- 30 J K(-1) mol(-1), DeltaH(obs) = 160 +/- 10 kJ mol(-1), and DeltaV()(obs) = +16 +/- 1 cm(3) mol(-1) can be accounted for in terms of significant bond cleavage and/or partial reduction from Pt(IV) to Pt(II) in going from the ground to the transition state. These cationic complexes have provided the first opportunity to carry out detailed studies of C-C reductive elimination from cationic Pt(IV) complexes in a variety of solvents. The absence of a significant solvent effect for this reaction provides strong evidence that the C-C reductive coupling occurs from an unsaturated five-coordinate Pt(IV) intermediate rather than from a six-coordinate Pt(IV) solvento species.     

Mechanistic studies of the reaction of bis(2,4,6-tripyridyl 1,3,5-triazine)iron(II) with triazines

Bis(2,4,6-tripyridyl 1,3,5-triazine)iron(II), \textFe(\textTPTZ) ₂ ^{2 +} {\text{Fe(\text{TPTZ})}}_{ 2}^{{ 2 { + }}} reacts with 3-(2-pyridyl)-5,6-bis(4-phenyl-sulfonicacid)-1,2,4-triazine (PDTS) and 3-(4-(4-phenylsulfonicacid)-2-pyridyl)-5,6-bis(4-phenylsulfonic-acid)-1,2,4-triazine (PPDTS) to give \textFe(PDTS) ₃ ^4- {\text{Fe(PDTS)}}_{ 3}^{ 4- } and \textFe(PPDTS) ₃ ^7- {\text{Fe(PPDTS)}}_{ 3}^{ 7- } respectively. Both of these substitution reactions are fast and their kinetics were monitored by stopped-flow spectrophotometry in acetate buffers in the pH range of 3.6–5.6 at 25–45 °C. Both reactions are first order in \textFe(TPTZ) ₂ ^{2 +} {\text{Fe(TPTZ)}}_{ 2}^{{ 2 { + }}} and triazine, and pH has negligible effect on the rate. The kinetic data suggest that these reactions occur in an associative path and a mechanism is proposed considering both protonated and unprotonated forms of PDTS and PPDTS are very similar in reactivity. The kinetic and activation parameters have been evaluated.     

Liquid chromatographic determination of chelates of cobalt (II), copper (II) and iron (II) with 2-thiophonaldehyde-4-phenyl-3-thiosemicarbazone

Summary A new chelating reagent 2-thiophenaldehyde-4-phenyl-3-thiosemicarbazone (TAPT) has been examined for high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) separations of cobalt (II), copper(II) and iron (II) or cobalt (II), nickel (II), iron (II), copper (II) and mercury (II) as metal chelates on a C₁₈, 5μm column (250×4 mm i.d.) The chelates were eluted isocratically with methanol: acetonitrile: water containing sodium acetate and tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBA), and detected at 254 nm. A solvent extraction procedure was developed for simultaneous determination of the metals with detection limits within 0.02–2.5 μ g.mL⁻¹. The method was applied to the determination of copper, cobalt and iron in natural waters.     

Heterogenization of palladium(II) chelates on a sibunite

Summary Heterogenized palladium(II) chelates have been prepared by a sibunite treatment of acetone or aqueous solutions of palladium complexes with alizarin red C, 4- anilino-pent-3-en-2-one,N, N-bis(acetylacetone)ethylenediamine, 1-phenyl-4-methylpent-4-en-1,3-dione and 1-phenyl-3-anilino-4-methylpent-4-en-1-one. The catalytic properties of these chelates in chloronitrobenzene hydrogenation have been studied. It was found that the catalytic activity approaches 159 mol H₂ (mol Pd min)^–1 depending on the chlorine atom position in the aromatic ring and the nature of the solvent. The catalysts do not lose their activity after five cycles. The products of chloronitrobenzene hydrogenation are chloroanilines (up to 90%), azo- and azoxychlorobenzenes (5–7%) as a result of incomplete reduction as well as small quantities (2–5%) of dehalogenated azo-, azoxybenzenes and aniline.     

Ion-association compounds of anionic surfactants with iron(II)chelates: Part II. Selective determination of surfactants

Homologous anionic surfactants may be separated from each other by solvent extraction of their ion-association compounds with iron(II) chelates. Separations of components from a number of surfactant mixtures were investigated, and the effect of solution variables on extraction and separation was studied. A method is proposed for the determination of surfactants of various chain lengths. Applications of this method to synthetic mixtures and to biodegradation experiments are described.     

Ion paired chromatography of iron (II,III), nickel (II) and copper (II) as their 4,7-Diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline chelates

A reversed phase ion-paired chromatographic method that can be used to determine trace amounts of iron (II,III), nickel (II) and copper (II) was developed and applied to the determination of iron (II) and iron (III) levels in natural water. The separation of these metal ions as their 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (bathophenanthroline) chelates on an Inertsil ODS column was investigated by using acetonitrile-water (80/20, v/v) containing 0.06 M perchloric acid as mobile phase and diode array spectrophotometric detection at 250-650 nm. Chromatographic parameters such as composition of mobile phase and concentration of perchloric acid in mobile phase were optimized. The calibration graphs of iron (II), nickel (II) and copper (II) ions were linear (r > 0.991) in the concentration range 0-0.5, 0-2.0 and 0-4.0 mug ml(-1), respectively. The detection limit of iron (II), nickel (II) and copper (II) were 2.67, 5.42 and 18.2 ng ml(-1) with relative standard deviation (n = 5) of 3.11, 5.81 and 7.16% at a concentration level of 10 ng ml(-1) for iron (II) and nickel (II) and 25 ng ml(-1) for copper (II), respectively. The proposed method was applied to the determination of iron(II) and iron(III) in tap water and sea water samples without any interference from other common metal ions.