Synthesis and structures of bis(dithiolene)tungsten(IV,VI) thiolate and selenolate complexes: approaches to the active sites of molybdenum and tungsten formate dehydrogenases.

Formate dehydrogenases are molybdenum- or tungsten-containing enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of formate to carbon dioxide. Among the significant characteristics of the mononuclear active sites are coordination of two pyranopterindithiolene ligands and selenocysteinate to the metal in oxidation states IV-VI. The first detailed investigation of the synthesis and structures of bis(dithiolene)tungsten selenolate and analogous thiolate complexes of relevance to formate dehydrogenases has been undertaken. Some 17 complexes of the types [WIV(QR)(S2C2Me2)2]-, [WVIO(QR)(S2C2Me2)2]-, and [WVIS(QR)(S2C2Me2)2]- (Q = S, Se; R = tert-butyl, 1-adamantyl) and the desoxo species [WVI(SR)(OSiR'3)(S2C2Me2)2] (R' = Me, Ph) were prepared. Ten structures of representative members of these types were determined; WIV complexes are square-pyramidal and WVI complexes are six-coordinate, with geometries intermediate between octahedral and trigonal-prismatic. Selenolate complexes are less stable than similar thiolate species; decomposition products were identified as [WV2(mu2-Q)2(S2C2Me2)2]2- and [WIV,V2(mu2-Se)(S2C2Me2)4]-. The several [MoIV(QR)(S2C2Me2)2]- complexes prepared earlier and the tungsten compounds synthesized in this work form a family of molecules whose overall stereochemistry and metric features are those expected in the absence of protein structural constraints.