Four new Fe(III) catecholate complexes, [(bispicMe
2en)Fe
III(DBC)]
+, [(bispicCl
2Me
2en)Fe
III(DBC)]
+, [(trispicMeen)Fe
III(DBC)]
+, and [(BQPA)Fe
III(DBC)]
+, which all contain aminopyridine ligands, were synthesized. Thestructure of [(bispicMe
2en)Fe
III(DBC)]
+ was determined by X-ray diffraction. It crystallizes in the triclinic spacegroup
Pnals/inocaj/39/i12/eqn/ic981236ve10001.gif"> with
a = 10.666(3) Å,
b = 13.467(5) Å,
c = 17.685(2) Å,
hars/alp
ha.gif" BORDER=0> = 93.46(2)
,
hars/beta2.gif" BORDER=0 ALIGN="middle"> = 93.68(2)
,
hars/gamma.gif" BORDER=0 > = 109.0(3)
,
V = 2387.4 Å
3, and
Z = 2. All of these complexes were found to be active toward oxidation of catechol byO
2 in DMF at 20
C to afford intradiol cleavage products. The catechol was quantitatively oxidized, mainly(90%) into 3,5-di-
tert-butyl-5-(carboxymethyl)-2-furanone. Reaction rates were measured, and for the first three(topologically similar) complexes, a correlation of the second-order kinetic constants
k with the optical parametersof the two LMCT O(DBC)
Fe(III) bands was found. In particular,
k increases with the
hars/epsilon.gif" BORDER=0 >
max of the c
harge-transfer bands. The
k value of the complex [(BQPA)Fe
III(DBC)]
+, containing a tripodal ligand, is smaller t
hanexpected on the basis of these correlations. This discrepancy could be related to steric hindrance induced by theBQPA ligand. However, the much lower activity of the bispicen-Fe(III)-type complexes compared to t
hat of the[(TPA)Fe
III(DBC)]
+ complex synthesized by
Jang et al. (
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1991,
113, 9200-9204), despitesimilar
hars/epsilon.gif" BORDER=0 >
max values, shows t
hat a knowledge of optical and NMR parameters values is not sufficient to explain thedioxyge
nase activity rate. In their study of protocatechuate 3,4-dioxyge
nase, Orville et al. (
Biochemistry 1997,
36, 10052-10066) suggested t
hat asymmetric chelation of the catecholate to Fe(III) is of great importance in theefficiency of the intradiol dioxyge
nase reaction. Indeed, a comparison of the X-ray structures of [(TPA)Fe
III(DBC)]
+ and [(bispicMe
2en)Fe
III(DBC)]
+ shows t
hat the Fe(III)-O bonds differ by 0.019 Å in the former andare identical in the latter. Asymmetry could also play a role in the model complexes. An alter
native expla
nationis the possible existence of a low-spin state for [(TPA)Fe
III(DBC)]
+, as recently identified in [(TPA)Fe
III(cat)]
+by Simaan et al. (
Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 2000,
39, 196-198).