Iron porphyrins, reactivity with

Supported iron porphyrins are less reactive than the corresponding manganese derivatives in the PhIO epoxidation of cyclooctene. 80% of olefin conversion was reached with MnBrgTMPS-PVP in 2 h, whereas only 10% was obtained with FeBrgTMPS-PVP in 6 h. 

Hence, these Qc values are a quantitative measure for the relative affinities of the various NACs to the reactive sites. Figs. 14.10e and/show plots of log Qc versus h(AtN02)/0.059 V of the 10 monosubstituted benzenes. A virtually identical picture was obtained for the log Qc values derived from an aquifer solid column and from a column containing FeOOH-coated sand and a culture of the iron-reducing bacterium, Geobacter metallireducens (GS15). Furthermore, a similar pattern (Fig. 14.10c) was found when correlating relative initial pseudo-first-order rate constants determined for NAC reduction by Fe(II) species adsorbed to iron oxide surfaces (Fig. 14.12) or pseudo-first-order reaction constants for reaction with an iron porphyrin (data not shown see Schwarzenbach et al., 1990). Fig. 14.12 shows that Fe(II) species adsorbed to iron oxide surfaces are very potent reductants, at least for NACs tv2 of a few minutes in the experimental system considered). 

N-substituted iron porphyrins form upon treatment of heme enzymes with many xenobiotics. The formation of these modified hemes is directly related to the mechanism of their enzymatic reactivity. N-alkyl porphyrins may be formed from organometallic iron porphyrin complexes, PFe-R (a-alkyl, o-aryl) or PFe = CR2 (carbene). They are also formed via a branching in the reaction path used in the epoxidation of alkenes. Biomimetic N-alkyl porphyrins are competent catalysts for the epoxidation of olefins, and it has been shown that iron N-alkylporphyrins can form highly oxidized species such as an iron(IV) ferryl, (N-R P)Fe v=0, and porphyrin ir-radicals at the iron(III) or iron(IV) level of metal oxidation. The N-alkylation reaction has been used as a low resolution probe of heme protein active site structure. Modified porphyrins may be used as synthetic catalysts and as models for nonheme and noniron metalloenzymes. 

There is a particularly extensive and rich coordination chemistry associated with iron(II) N donor macrocycles. The coordination chemistry of the biologically important iron porphyrin complexes has been of interest since the classic studies of Fischer, and over recent years there has been a resurgence of work on these and also on a wide range of related synthetic macrocyclic complexes. This section concentrates on their coordination chemistry, and where appropriate highlights enhanced ligand reactivity specifically induced by the iron(II) centre. First saturated ligands are discussed and then the unsaturated systems, with the particularly well-studied porphyrins and phthalocyanines being dealt with in separate subsections. 

Several iron porphyrin carbenes are known1110 that are obtained by the general reaction of the chloro iron(III) complex with RCX3 (X = Cl, Br) in the presence of iron powder or sodium dithionite as in equation (101). The air sensitivity of the product depends on the nature11111112 of R. Formally these complexes could be described as iron(II) species. They are diamagnetic, and can bond an additional axial ligand. The structure of the dichlorocarbene complex [Fe(TPP)(CCl2)(H20)] has been determined by X-ray methods,1113 which showed a short Fe—C distance of 1.83 A. This complex is reactive and, for instance, with primary amines a coordinated... 

Cytochrome P-450, which is the most extensively studied of the monooxygenase proteins, has a heme-iron active center with an axial thiol ligand (a cysteine residue). However, most chemical model investigations use simple iron(III) porphyrins without thiolate ligands. As a result, model mechanisms for cytochrome P-450 invoke a reactive intermediate that is formulated to be equivalent to Compound I of horseradish peroxidase, (por+-)Fe =0, with a high-potential porphyrin cation radical. Such a species would be reduced by thiolate, and therefore is an unreasonable formulation for the reactive center of cytochrome P-450. 

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