Dioxygen-initiated oxidation of heteroatomic substrates incorporated into ancillary pyridine ligands of carboxylate-rich diiron(II) complexes.

Progress toward the development of functional models of the carboxylate-bridged diiron active site in soluble methane monooxygenase is described in which potential substrates are introduced as substituents on bound pyridine ligands. Pyridine ligands incorporating a thiol, sulfide, sulfoxide, or phosphine moiety were allowed to react with the preassembled diiron(II) complex [Fe(2)(mu-O(2)CAr(R))(2)(O(2)CAr(R))(2)(THF)(2)], where (-)O(2)CAr(R) is a sterically hindered 2,6-di(p-tolyl)- or 2,6-di(p-fluorophenyl)benzoate (R = Tol or 4-FPh). The resulting diiron(II) complexes were characterized crystallographically. Triply and doubly bridged compounds [Fe(2)(mu-O(2)CAr(Tol))(3)(O(2)CAr(Tol))(2-MeSpy)] (4) and [Fe(2)(mu-O(2)CAr(Tol))(2)(O(2)CAr(Tol))(2)(2-MeS(O)py)(2)] (5) resulted when 2-methylthiopyridine (2-MeSpy) and 2-pyridylmethylsulfoxide (2-MeS(O)py), respectively, were employed. Another triply bridged diiron(II) complex, [Fe(2)(mu-O(2)CAr(4)(-)(FPh))(3)-(O(2)CAr(4)(-)(FPh))(2-Ph(2)Ppy)] (3), was obtained containing 2-diphenylphosphinopyridine (2-Ph(2)Ppy). The use of 2-mercaptopyridine (2-HSpy) produced the mononuclear complex [Fe(O(2)CAr(Tol))(2)(2-HSpy)(2)] (6a). Together with that of previously reported [Fe(2)(mu-O(2)CAr(Tol))(3)(O(2)CAr(Tol))(2-PhSpy)] (2) and [Fe(2)(mu-O(2)CAr(Tol))(3)(O(2)CAr(Tol))(2-Ph(2)Ppy)] (1), the dioxygen reactivity of these iron(II) complexes was investigated. A dioxygen-dependent intermediate (6b) formed upon exposure of 6a to O(2), the electronic structure of which was probed by various spectroscopic methods. Exposure of 4 and 5 to dioxygen revealed both sulfide and sulfoxide oxidation. Oxidation of 3 in CH(2)Cl(2) yields [Fe(2)(mu-OH)(2)(mu-O(2)CAr(4)(-)(FPh))(O(2)CAr(4)(-FPh))(3)(OH(2))(2-Ph(2)P(O)py)] (8), which contains the biologically relevant {Fe(2)(mu-OH)(2)(mu-O(2)CR)}(3+) core. This reaction is sensitive to the choice of carboxylate ligands, however, since the p-tolyl analogue 1 yielded a hexanuclear species, 7, upon oxidation.