Replica of a fishy enzyme: structure-function analogue of trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase.

Three new complexes, [Mo(IV)O(mnt)(SS)](2-) (SS = dimethylethylenedicarboxylate (DMED), toluenedithiolate (tdt), benzenedithiolate (bdt); mnt = maleonitriledithiolate), each possessing two different dithiolene ligands, are synthesized as model of trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase. The asymmetric dithiolene ligands present in these complexes simulate the two different (P and Q) pterin coordinations in the family of DMSO reductase. These complexes reduce trimethylamine-N-oxide ((CH3)3N(+)-O(-) or TMANO), the biological substrate of trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase, to trimethylamine ((CH3)3N), responsible for the fishy smell of dead aquatic animals. The reaction kinetics of trimethylamine-N-oxide reduction by these complexes follow the Michaelis-Menten saturation kinetics. These experimental findings have been rationalized by DFT, TD-DFT level of calculations.