Iron(II)-catecholate complexes of a monoanionic facial N₃ ligand: Structural and functional models of the extradiol cleaving catechol dioxygenases

Two biomimetic iron(II)-catecholate complexes, [(Tp^Ph2)Fe ^II(CatH)] (1) and [(Tp^Ph2)Fe^II(DBCH)] (2) (where Tp^Ph2 = hydrotris(3,5-diphenylpyrazole-1-yl)borate, CatH = monoanionic pyrocatecholate and DBCH = monoanionic 3,5-di-tertbutyl catecholate), have been isolated and characterized to study their reactivity towards dioxygen. The single-crystal X-ray structure of (1) reveals a high-spin iron(II) center ligated by the monoanionic facial N₃ ligand and a monoanionic catecholate, giving rise to a trigonal bipyramidal coordination geometry. Complex (1) represents the first structurally characterized five-coordinate iron(II)-catecholate complex with an asymmetric bidentate binding motif of monoanionic catecholate. While (1) reacts with dioxygen to form the corresponding iron(III)-catecholate, (2) reacts with dioxygen to give 75 % extradiol and 25 % intradiol cleavage products via an iron(III)-catecholate intermediate species. Complex (2) is a potential functional model of extradiol cleaving catechol.