Theoretical study of the structure and stability of the heme dimer (FeC34H32N4O4)2 and its ion (FeC34H32N4O4) 2+

The electronic and geometric structures and the dissociation energies of the isolated molecule of heme dimer (heme)₂ = (FeC₃₄H₃₂O₄N₄)₂ and its ion (heme) ₂ ⁺ = (FeC₃₄H₃₂O₄N₄) ₂ ⁺ in the states with different multiplicities have been calculated by the density functional theory B3LYP method with the Gen-1 = 6-31G*(Fe) + 6-31G(C,H,N,O) and Gen-2 = 6-311++G*(Fe) + 6-31G*(C,H,N,O) basis sets. The computation results are compared with the analogous calculated data on monomeric heme and hemin⁺, as well as the previously considered dimeric ferriporphyrin X molecule and ion FeC₃₄H₃₁O₄N₄) ₂ ^{0, +} . In the heme dimer cation (heme) ₂ ⁺ , which is identified in mass spectra, the rings are linked with each other by a pair of Fe carbonyl bridges Fe⋯O_b = C(OH) and a pair of hydrogen bridges OH_b⋯N. According to the calculations, the most favorable state for (heme) ₂ ⁺ is the sextet in which five unpaired electrons are approximately uniformly distributed over the metal atoms, whereas the states with higher multiplicities 8 and 10 are, respectively, 0.15 and 0.20 eV higher on the energy scale. For the neutral dimer (heme)₂, the quintet is favorable in which each of the two Fe atoms has two unpaired electrons, and the states with the higher multiplicities 7 and 9 are only 0.10–0.15 eV higher. The calculated energies of dissociation D of the dimers into monomers point to a rather high stability of the (heme) ₂ ⁺ (D ∼ 1.4 1.4eV) and to a low stability of the neutral dimer (heme)₂ (D ∼ 0.3 eV). The R(Fe⋯O_b) distances in the bridges in (heme) ₂ ⁺ are 0.2–0.4 ? shorter than in (heme)₂. The trends in the behavior of the energetic and structural characteristics of the dimers (R(Fe-N), displacements of Fe atoms from the porphyrin ring plane, character of ring distortions, etc.) associated with the involvement of the and AOs of Fe atoms in bonding, as well as the spin density distribution over the Fe atoms and the rings, are analyzed as a function of the multiplicity and charge of the system. Differences in the character of interaction of the heme and ferriporphyrin dimers with molecular oxygen are discussed. Original Russian Text ? O.P. Charkin, N.M. Klimenko, D.O. Charkin, S.H. Lin, 2007, published in Zhurnal Neorganicheskoi Khimii, 2007, Vol. 52, No. 7, pp. 1166–1174.