Edward I. Solomon

Oxygen Binding, Activation, and Reduction to Water by Copper Proteins

Copper active sites play a major role in biological and abiological dioxygen activation. Oxygen intermediates have been studied in detail for the proteins and enzymes involved in reversible O(2) binding (hemocyanin), activation (tyrosinase), and four-electron reduction to water (multicopper oxidases). These oxygen intermediates exhibit unique spectroscopic features indicative of new geometric and electronic structures involved in oxygen activation. The spectroscopic and quantum-mechanical study of these intermediates has defined geometric- and electronic-structure/function correlations, and developed detailed reaction coordinates for the reversible binding of O(2), hydroxylation, and H-atom abstraction from different substrates, and the reductive cleavage of the O-O bond in the formation water.

Copper Active Sites in Biology

Based on its generally accessible I/II redox couple and bioavailability, copper plays a wide variety of roles in nature that mostly involve electron transfer (ET), O2 binding, activation and reduction, NO2− and N2O reduction and substrate activation. Copper sites that perform ET are the mononuclear blue Cu site that has a highly covalent CuII-S(Cys) bond and the binuclear CuA site that has a Cu2S(Cys)2 core with a Cu-Cu bond that keeps the site delocalized (Cu(1.5)2) in its oxidized state. In contrast to inorganic Cu complexes, these metalloprotein sites transfer electrons rapidly often over long distances, as has been previously reviewed.1–4 Blue Cu and CuA sites will only be considered here in their relation to intramolecular ET in multi-center enzymes. The focus of this review is on the Cu enzymes (Figure 1). Many are involved in O2 activation and reduction, which has mostly been thought to involve at least two electrons to overcome spin forbiddenness and the low potential of the one electron reduction to superoxide (Figure 2).5,6 Since the Cu(III) redox state has not been observed in biology, this requires either more than one Cu center or one copper and an additional redox active organic cofactor. The latter is formed in a biogenesis reaction of a residue (Tyr) that is also Cu catalyzed in the first turnover of the protein. Recently, however, there have been a number of enzymes suggested to utilize one Cu to activate O2 by 1e− reduction to form a Cu(II)-O2•− intermediate (an innersphere redox process) and it is important to understand the active site requirements to drive this reaction. The oxidases that catalyze the 4e−reduction of O2 to H2O are unique in that they effectively perform this reaction in one step indicating that the free energy barrier for the second two-electron reduction of the peroxide product of the first two-electron step is very low. In nature this requires either a trinuclear Cu cluster (in the multicopper oxidases) or a Cu/Tyr/Heme Fe cluster (in the cytochrome oxidases). The former accomplishes this with almost no overpotential maximizing its ability to oxidize substrates and its utility in biofuel cells, while the latter class of enzymes uses the excess energy to pump protons for ATP synthesis. In bacterial denitrification, a mononuclear Cu center catalyzes the 1e- reduction of nitrite to NO while a unique µ4S2−Cu4 cluster catalyzes the reduction of N2O to N2 and H2O, a 2e− process yet requiring 4Cu’s. Finally there are now several classes of enzymes that utilize an oxidized Cu(II) center to activate a covalently bound substrate to react with O2. Figure 1 Copper active sites in biology. Figure 2 Latimer Diagram for Oxygen Reduction at pH = 7.0 Adapted from References 5 and 6. This review presents in depth discussions of all these classes of Cu enzymes and the correlations within and among these classes. For each class we review our present understanding of the enzymology, kinetics, geometric structures, electronic structures and the reaction mechanisms these have elucidated. While the emphasis here is on the enzymology, model studies have significantly contributed to our understanding of O2 activation by a number of Cu enzymes and are included in appropriate subsections of this review. In general we will consider how the covalency of a Cu(II)–substrate bond can activate the substrate for its spin forbidden reaction with O2, how in binuclear Cu enzymes the exchange coupling between Cu’s overcomes the spin forbiddenness of O2 binding and controls electron transfer to O2 to direct catalysis either to perform two e− electrophilic aromatic substitution or 1e− H-atom abstraction, the type of oxygen intermediate that is required for H-atom abstraction from the strong C-H bond of methane (104 kcal/mol) and how the trinuclear Cu cluster and the Cu/Tyr/Heme Fe cluster achieve their very low barriers for the reductive cleavage of the O-O bond. Much of the insight available into these mechanisms in Cu biochemistry has come from the application of a wide range of spectroscopies and the correlation of spectroscopic results to electronic structure calculations. Thus we start with a tutorial on the different spectroscopic methods utilized to study mononuclear and multinuclear Cu enzymes and their correlations to different levels of electronic structure calculations.

A [Cu2O]2+ core in Cu-ZSM-5, the active site in the oxidation of methane to methanol

Driven by the depletion of crude oil, the direct oxidation of methane to methanol has been of considerable interest. Promising low-temperature activity of an oxygen-activated zeolite, Cu-ZSM-5, has recently been reported in this selective oxidation and the active site in this reaction correlates with an absorption feature at 22,700 cm−1. In the present study, this absorption band is used to selectively resonance enhance Raman vibrations of this active site. 18O2 labeling experiments allow definitive assignment of the observed vibrations and exclude all previously characterized copper-oxygen species for the active site. In combination with DFT and normal coordinate analysis calculations, the oxygen activated Cu core is uniquely defined as a bent mono-(μ-oxo)dicupric site. Spectroscopically validated electronic structure calculations show polarization of the low-lying singly-occupied molecular orbital of the [Cu2O]2+ core, which is directed into the zeolite channel, upon approach of CH4. This induces significant oxyl character into the bridging O atom leading to a low transition state energy consistent with experiment and explains why the bent mono-(μ-oxo)dicupric core is highly activated for H atom abstraction from CH4. The oxygen intermediate of Cu-ZSM-5 is now the most well defined species active in the methane monooxygenase reaction.

O2 Reduction to H2O by the Multicopper Oxidases

In nature the four electron reduction of O2 to H2O is carried out by Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) and the multicopper oxidases (MCOs). In the former, Cytochrome c provides electrons for pumping protons to produce a gradient for ATP synthesis, while in the MCOs the function is the oxidation of substrates, either organic or metal ions. In the MCOs the reduction of O2 is carried out at a trinuclear Cu cluster (TNC). Oxygen intermediates have been trapped which exhibit unique spectroscopic features that reflect novel geometric and electronic structures. These intermediates have both intact and cleaved O-O bonds, allowing the reductive cleavage of the O-O bond to be studied in detail both experimentally and computationally. These studies show that the topology of the TNC provides a unique geometric and electronic structure particularly suited to carry out this key reaction in nature.

A codeposition route to CuI-pyridine coordination complexes for organic light-emitting diodes.

We demonstrate a new approach for utilizing CuI coordination complexes as emissive layers in organic light-emitting diodes that involves in situ codeposition of CuI and 3,5-bis(carbazol-9-yl)pyridine (mCPy). With a simple three-layer device structure, pure green electroluminescence at 530 nm from a Cu(I) complex was observed. A maximum luminance and external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 9700 cd/m(2) and 4.4%, respectively, were achieved. The luminescent species was identified as [CuI(mCPy)(2)](2) on the basis of photophysical studies of model complexes and X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

Tracking excited-state charge and spin dynamics in iron coordination complexes

Crucial to many light-driven processes in transition metal complexes is the absorption and dissipation of energy by 3d electrons. But a detailed understanding of such non-equilibrium excited-state dynamics and their interplay with structural changes is challenging: a multitude of excited states and possible transitions result in phenomena too complex to unravel when faced with the indirect sensitivity of optical spectroscopy to spin dynamics and the flux limitations of ultrafast X-ray sources. Such a situation exists for archetypal polypyridyl iron complexes, such as [Fe(2,2′-bipyridine)3]2+, where the excited-state charge and spin dynamics involved in the transition from a low- to a high-spin state (spin crossover) have long been a source of interest and controversy. Here we demonstrate that femtosecond resolution X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, with its sensitivity to spin state, can elucidate the spin crossover dynamics of [Fe(2,2′-bipyridine)3]2+ on photoinduced metal-to-ligand charge transfer excitation. We are able to track the charge and spin dynamics, and establish the critical role of intermediate spin states in the crossover mechanism. We anticipate that these capabilities will make our method a valuable tool for mapping in unprecedented detail the fundamental electronic excited-state dynamics that underpin many useful light-triggered molecular phenomena involving 3d transition metal complexes.

A Trinuclear Intermediate in the Copper-Mediated Reduction of O2: Four Electrons from Three Coppers

The reaction of metal complexes with dioxygen (O2) generally proceeds in 1:1, 2:1, or 4:1 (metal:O2) stoichiometry. A discrete, structurally characterized 3:1 product is presented. This mixed-valence trinuclear copper cluster, which contains copper in the highly oxidized trivalent oxidation state, exhibits O2 bond scission and intriguing structural, spectroscopic, and redox properties. The relevance of this synthetic complex to the reduction of O2 at the trinuclear active sites of multicopper oxidases is discussed.

Structure and reactivity of a mononuclear non-haem iron( III )–peroxo complex

Oxygen-containing mononuclear iron species—iron(iii)–peroxo, iron(iii)–hydroperoxo and iron(iv)–oxo—are key intermediates in the catalytic activation of dioxygen by iron-containing metalloenzymes. It has been difficult to generate synthetic analogues of these three active iron–oxygen species in identical host complexes, which is necessary to elucidate changes to the structure of the iron centre during catalysis and the factors that control their chemical reactivities with substrates. Here we report the high-resolution crystal structure of a mononuclear non-haem side-on iron(iii)–peroxo complex, [Fe(iii)(TMC)(OO)]+. We also report a series of chemical reactions in which this iron(iii)–peroxo complex is cleanly converted to the iron(iii)–hydroperoxo complex, [Fe(iii)(TMC)(OOH)]2+, via a short-lived intermediate on protonation. This iron(iii)–hydroperoxo complex then cleanly converts to the ferryl complex, [Fe(iv)(TMC)(O)]2+, via homolytic O–O bond cleavage of the iron(iii)–hydroperoxo species. All three of these iron species—the three most biologically relevant iron–oxygen intermediates—have been spectroscopically characterized; we note that they have been obtained using a simple macrocyclic ligand. We have performed relative reactivity studies on these three iron species which reveal that the iron(iii)–hydroperoxo complex is the most reactive of the three in the deformylation of aldehydes and that it has a similar reactivity to the iron(iv)–oxo complex in C–H bond activation of alkylaromatics. These reactivity results demonstrate that iron(iii)–hydroperoxo species are viable oxidants in both nucleophilic and electrophilic reactions by iron-containing enzymes.

Observation of an electric quadrupole transition in the X-ray absorption spectrum of a Cu(II) complex

Abstract The polarized X-ray absorption cross section of the ls → 3d transition in a square planar CuCl2−4 complex has been measured with respect to rotation about an axis normal to the CuCl4. The cross section exhibits four-fold periodicity about this axis, indicating that the transition is primarily due to coupling with the electric quadrupole component of the radiation. The vibronically allowed dipole transition is approximately one-third as the quadrupolar cross section. These observations are in agreement with SCF Xα multiple-scattered wave calculations, and may have implications for the intepretation of other X-ray absorption spectra. The half-filled d orbital is shown to have the angular characteristics of dx2−y2.

Targeted Mutations in a Trametes villosa Laccase AXIAL PERTURBATIONS OF THE T1 COPPER

Trametes villosa laccase was mutated on a tetrapeptide segment near the type 1 site. The mutations F463M and F463L were at the position corresponding to the type 1 copper axial methionine (M517) ligand in Zucchini ascorbate oxidase. The mutations E460S and A461E were near the T1 copper site. The mutatedTrametes laccases were expressed in an Aspergillus oryzae host and characterized. The E460S mutation failed to produce a transformant with meaningful expression. The F463L and A461E mutations did not significantly alter the molecular and enzymological properties of the laccase. In contrast, the F463M mutation resulted in a type 1 copper site with an EPR signal intermediate between that of the wild type laccase and plastocyanin, an altered UV-visible spectrum, and a decreased redox potential (by 0.1 V). In oxidizing phenolic substrate, the mutation led to a more basic optimal pH as well as an increase in k cat and K m . These effects are attributed to a significant perturbation of the T1 copper center caused by the coordination of the axial methionine (M463) ligand.