A series of Cu
II and Zn
IIcomplexes with new ligands having either one or two substitutedphenolatesappended to the 1,4,7-triazacyclononane frame were prepared andcharacterized by optical absorption, EPR, NMR,and/or resonance Raman spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and, in eightcases, X-ray crystallography. Features ofthe active site geometries of the Cu
II-tyrosinate formsof galactose and glyoxal oxidases (GAO and GLO) weremodeled by these complexes, including the binding of a redox-activephenolate and an exogenous ligand (Cl
-,CH
3CO
2-, orCH
3CN) in a
cis-equatorial position of asquare pyramidal metal ion. The role of the unique
orthoS
-C covalent bond between a cysteine (C228) and theequatorial tyrosinate (Y272) in the proteins was probedthrough an examination of the optical absorption and electrochemicalproperties of sets of similar complexes comprisedof phenolate ligands with differing
ortho substituents,including thioether groups. The
o-alkylthio unitinfluencesthe PhO
- Cu
II LMCT transition and theM
II-phenolate/M
II-phenoxyl radical redoxpotential, but to a relativelysmall degree. Electrochemical and chemical one-electron oxidationsof the Cu
II and Zn
II complexes of ligandshaving
tert-butyl protecting groups on the phenolates yielded newspecies that were identified as novel M
II-phenoxylradicalcompounds analogous to the active Cu
II-tyrosyl radicalforms of GAO and GLO. The M
II-phenoxyl radicalspecieswere characterized by optical absorption, EPR, and resonance Ramanspectroscopy, as well as by their stoichiometryof formation and chemical reduction. Notable features of theCu
II-phenoxyl radical compounds that are similartotheir protein counterparts include EPR silence indicative of magneticcoupling between the Cu
II ion and the boundradical, a band with
max 410 nm (
3900M
-1 cm
-1) inUV-vis spectra diagnostic for the phenoxyl radical,and a feature attributable to the phenoxyl radical C-O vibration(
7a) in resonance Raman spectra. SimilarRamanspectra and electrochemical behavior for the Zn
II analogs,as well as an isotropic signal at
g = 2.00 in theirX-bandEPR spectra, further corroborate the formulations of theM
II-phenoxyl radical species.