Comparison of hydroxycarboxylato imidazole molybdenum(iv) complexes and nitrogenase protein structures: indirect evidence for the protonation of homocitrato FeMo-cofactors.

Glycolato and R,S-lactato imidazole molybdenum(iv) complexes [Mo3SO3(glyc)2(im)5]·im·H2O (1), Na2[Mo3SO3(R,S-lact)3(im)3]·10H2O (2), and [Mo6O10(R,S-lact)2(im)10]·16H2O (3) have been isolated and characterized (H2glyc = glycolic acid, H2lact = lactic acid, im = imidazole). α-Alkoxy coordination with molybdenum [Mo-Oα-alkoxy 1.993(7)av Å] in 1 and 2 showed obvious differences to their counterpart with α-hydroxy coordination [MoIV3S4(PPh3)3(Hlact)2(lact)] [2.204(4)av Å] as shown in M. N. Sokolov, S. A. Adonin, A. V. Virovets, P. A. Abramov, C. Vicent, R. Llusar and V. P. Fedin, Inorg. Chim. Acta, 2013, 395, 11-18. This was also true for the 36 reported structures of FeMo-cofactors in the RCSB protein data bank (Mo-Oav 2.272 Å), which can serve as indirect evidence for the protonation of homocitrate in FeMo-co. The C-OHα-hydroxy bonds were longer than the short C-Oα-alkoxy bonds. Trinuclear Mo3SO3 cores were stabilized by imidazoles and/or α-hydroxycarboxylates, whereas only two glycolates were present in 1. α-Hydroxycarboxylates in 1 and 2 acted as bidentate ligands of Mo(iv) atoms through α-alkoxy and α-carboxy groups, while the imidazoles coordinated monodentately with nitrogen atoms. The lactates in 3 coordinated with Mo(iv) atoms through two oxygen atoms of α-carboxy groups, leaving the α-hydroxy group free. Furthermore, novel hexanuclear oxomolybdenum(v) malate Na6[(Mo2O4)3(mal)4]·5H2O (4) was also isolated (H3mal = malic acid). Solid-state and solution 13C NMR resonances of carbon atoms in α-alkoxy groups appeared in a high-field region (71.6, 77.4 ppm), indicating that α-alkoxy groups were easy to protonate.