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Kinetic and mechanistic studies on the formation of an oxoiron(IV) porphyrin cation radical bearing a thiolate group as proximal ligand are reported. The SR complex, a functional enzyme mimic of P450, was oxidized in peroxo-shunt reactions under different experimental conditions with variation of solvent, temperature, and identity and excess of oxidant in the presence of different organic substrates. Through the application of a low-temperature rapid-scan stopped-flow technique, the reactive intermediates in the SR catalytic cycle, such as the initially formed SR acylperoxoiron(III) complex and the SR high-valent iron(IV) porphyrin cation radical complex [(SR(*+))Fe(IV)=O], were successfully identified and kinetically characterized. The oxidation of the SR complex under catalytic conditions provided direct spectroscopic information on the reactivity of [(SR(.+))Fe(IV)=O] towards the oxidation of selected organic substrates. Because the catalytically active species is a synthetic oxoiron(IV) porphyrin cation radical bearing a thiolate proximal group, the effect of the strong electron donor ligand on the formation and reactivity/stability of the SR high-valent iron species is addressed and discussed in the light of the reactivity pattern observed in substrate oxygenation reactions catalyzed by native P450 enzyme systems.

The present study focuses on the oxidation of the water-soluble and water-insoluble iron(III)-porphyrin complexes [Fe(III)(TMPS)] and [Fe(III)(TMP)] (TMPS = meso-tetrakis(2,4,6-trimethyl-3-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrinato, TMP = meso-tetrakis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)porphyrinato), respectively, by meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (m-CPBA) in aqueous methanol and aqueous acetonitrile solutions of varying acidity. With the application of a low-temperature rapid-scan UV/Vis spectroscopic technique, the complete spectral changes that accompany the formation and decomposition of the primary product of O-O bond cleavage in the acylperoxoiron(III)-porphyrin intermediate [(P)Fe(III)-OOX] (P = porphyrin) were successfully recorded and characterized. The results clearly indicate that the O-O bond in m-CPBA is heterolytically cleaved by the studied iron(III)-porphyrin complexes independent of the acidity of the reaction medium. The existence of two different oxidation products under acidic and basic conditions is suggested not to be the result of a mechanistic changeover in the mode of O-O bond cleavage on going from low to high pH values, but rather the effect of environmental changes on the actual product of the O-O bond cleavage in [(P)Fe(III)-OOX]. The oxoiron(IV)-porphyrin cation radical formed as a primary oxidation product over the entire pH range can undergo a one- or two-electron reduction depending on the selected reaction conditions. The present study provides valuable information for the interpretation and improved understanding of results obtained in product-analysis experiments.

The mechanism of acetate-assisted transmetalation of tetrapyrroles was investigated in a model system consisting of chlorophyll a and copper(II) acetate in organic solvents by using a spectroscopic and kinetic approach. Surprisingly, acetate ions bind to the central Mg in chlorophyll much more strongly than do acetonitrile, methanol and even pyridine, one of the best ligands in chlorophyllic systems. This exceptionally strong non-symmetrical axial ligation of the central Mg by acetate causes its out-of-plane displacement and deformation of the tetrapyrrole ring, thus facilitating the interaction with an incoming CuII complex. This mechanism is controlled by a keto-enol tautomerism of the chlorophyll isocyclic ring. Additionally, depending on solvent, acetate activates the incoming metal ions. These new insights allow to suggest a mechanism for the acetate method of metal exchange in tetrapyrrolic macrocycles, which resembles biological insertion of metal ions into porphyrins. It also provides a guideline for the design of more efficient methods for the metalation of porphyrins and related macrocycles.

The reactions of a water-soluble iron(III)-porphyrin, [meso-tetrakis(sulfonatomesityl)porphyrinato]iron(III), [Fe(III)(tmps)] (1), with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (mCPBA), iodosylbenzene (PhIO), and H(2)O(2) at different pH values in aqueous methanol solutions at -35 degrees C have been studied by using stopped-flow UV/Vis spectroscopy. The nature of the porphyrin product resulting from the reactions with all three oxidants changed from the oxo-iron(IV)-porphyrin pi-cation radical [Fe(IV)(tmps(*+))(O)] (1(++)) at pH<5.5 to the oxo-iron(IV)-porphyrin [Fe(IV)(tmps)(O)] (1(+)) at pH>7.5, whereas a mixture of both species was formed in the intermediate pH range of 5.5-7.5. The observed reactivity pattern correlates with the E degrees' versus pH profile reported for 1, which reflects pH-dependent changes in the relative positions of E degrees'(Fe(IV)/Fe(III) ) and E degrees'(P(*+)/P) for metal- and porphyrin-centered oxidation, respectively. On this basis, the pH-dependent redox equilibria involving 1(++) and 1(+) are suggested to determine the nature of the final products that result from the oxidation of 1 at a given pH. The conclusions reached are extended to water-insoluble iron(III)-porphyrins on the basis of literature data concerning the electrochemical and catalytic properties of [Fe(III)(P)(X)] species in nonaqueous solvents. Implications for mechanistic studies on [Fe(P)]-catalyzed oxidation reactions are briefly addressed.