Phosphate Ester Hydrolysis: Metal Complexes As Purple Acid Phosphatase and Phosphotriesterase Analogues

Purple acid phosphatase promoted hydrolysis of organophosphate pesticides in microalgae

When organophosphate pesticides (OPs) are not used and handled in accordance with the current rules and standards, it results in serious threats to the aquatic environment and human health. Phaeodactylum tricornutum is a prospective microalgae-based system for pollutant removal and carbon sequestration. Genetically engineered P. tricornutum, designated as the OE line (endogenously expressing purple acid phosphatase 1 [PAP1]), can utilize organic phosphorus for cellular metabolism. However, the competencies and mechanisms of the microalgae-based system (namely the OE line of P. tricornutum) for metabolizing OPs remain to be addressed. In this study, the OE line exhibited the effective biodegradation competencies of 72.12% and 68.2% for 30 mg L-1 of dichlorvos and 50 mg L-1 of glyphosate, accompanied by synergistic accumulations of biomass (0.91 and 0.95 g L-1) and lipids (32.71% and 32.08%), respectively. Furthermore, the biodiesel properties of the lipids from the OE line manifested a high potential as an alternative feedstock for microalgae-based biofuel production. A plausible mechanism of OPs biodegraded by overexpressed PAP1 is that sufficient inorganic P for adenosine triphosphate and concurrent carbon flux for the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate biosynthesis, which improved the OP tolerance and biodegradation competencies by regulating the antioxidant system, delaying programmed cell death and accumulating lipids via the upregulation of related genes. To sum up, this study demonstrates a potential strategy using a genetically engineered strain of P. tricornutum to remove high concentrations of OPs with the simultaneous production of biomass and biofuels, which might provide novel insights for microalgae-based pollutant biodegradation.

Redox Processes Involving Oxygen: The Surprising Influence of Redox-Inactive Lewis Acids

Metalloenzymes with heteromultimetallic active sites perform chemical reactions that control several biogeochemical cycles. Transformations catalyzed by such enzymes include dioxygen generation and reduction, dinitrogen reduction, and carbon dioxide reduction-instrumental transformations for progress in the context of artificial photosynthesis and sustainable fertilizer production. While the roles of the respective metals are of interest in all these enzymatic transformations, they share a common factor in the transfer of one or multiple redox equivalents. In light of this feature, it is surprising to find that incorporation of redox-inactive metals into the active site of such an enzyme is critical to its function. To illustrate, the presence of a redox-inactive Ca2+ center is crucial in the Oxygen Evolving Complex, and yet particularly intriguing given that the transformation catalyzed by this cluster is a redox process involving four electrons. Therefore, the effects of redox inactive metals on redox processes-electron transfer, oxygen- and hydrogen-atom transfer, and O-O bond cleavage and formation reactions-mediated by transition metals have been studied extensively. Significant effects of redox inactive metals have been observed on these redox transformations; linear free energy correlations between Lewis acidity and the redox properties of synthetic model complexes are observed for several reactions. In this Perspective, these effects and their relevance to multielectron processes will be discussed.

Functional assessment of AtPAP17; encoding a purple acid phosphatase involved in phosphate metabolism in Arabidopsis thaliana

PURPOSE

Purple acid phosphatases (PAPs) includ the largest classes of non-specific plant acid phosphatases. Most characterized PAPs were found to play physiological functions in phosphorus metabolism. In this study, we investigated the function of AtPAP17 gene encoding an important purple acid phosphatase in Arabidopsis thaliana.

METHODS

The full-length cDNA sequence of AtPAP17 gene under the control of CaMV-35S promoter was transferred to the A. thaliana WT plant. The generated homozygote AtPAP17-overexpressed plants were compared by the types of analyses with corresponding homozygote atpap17-mutant plant and WT in both + P (1.2 mM) and - P (0 mM) conditions.

RESULTS

In the + P condition, the highest and the lowest amount of Pi was observed in AtPAP17-overexpressed plants and atpap17-mutant plants by 111% increase and 38% decrease compared with the WT plants, respectively. Furthermore, under the same condition, APase activity of AtPAP17-overexpressed plants increased by 24% compared to the WT. Inversely, atpap17-mutant plant represented a 71% fall compared to WT plants. The comparison of fresh weight and dry weight in the studied plants showed that the highest and the lowest amount of absorbed water belonged to OE plants (with 38 and 12 mg plant^-1) and Mu plants (with 22 and 7 mg plant^-1) in + P and - P conditions, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The lack of AtPAP17 gene in the A. thaliana genome led to a remarkable reduction in the development of root biomass. Thus, AtPAP17 could have an important role in the root but not shoot developmental and structural programming. Consequently, this function enables them to absorb more water and eventually associated with more phosphate absorption.

Grafted dinuclear zinc complexes for selective recognition of phosphatidylserine: Application to the capture of extracellular membrane microvesicles

Microvesicles (MVs) are key markers in human body fluids that reflect cellular activation related to diseases as thrombosis. These MVs display phosphatidylserine at the outer leaflet of their plasma membrane as specific recognition moieties. The work reported in this manuscript focuses on the development of an original method where MVs are captured by bimetallic zinc complexes. A set of ligands have been synthetized based on a phenol spacer bearing in para position an amine group appended to a short or a longer alkyl chain (for grafting on surface) and bis(dipicolylamine) arms in ortho position (for zinc coordination). The corresponding dibridged zinc phenoxido and hydroxido complexes have been prepared in acetronitrile in presence of triethylamine and characterized by several spectroscopic techniques. The pH-driven interconversion studies for both complexes in H₂O:DMSO (70:30) evidence that at physiologic pH the main species are mono-bridged by the phenoxido spacer. An X-Ray structure obtained from complex 2 (based on the ligand with the amine group on the short chain) in aqueous medium confirms the presence of a mono-bridged complex. Then, the complexes have been used for interaction studies with short-chain phospholipids. Both have established the selective recognition of the anionic phosphatidylserine model versus zwitterionic phospholipids (in solution by ³¹P NMR and after immobilization on solid support by surface plasmon resonance (SPR)). Moreover, both complexes have also demonstrated their ability to capture MVs isolated from human plasma. These complexes are thus promising candidates for MVs probing by a new approach based on coordination chemistry.

Synthesis, characterization and computational investigation of the phosphatase activity of a dinuclear Zinc(II) complex containing a new heptadentate asymmetric ligand

We report the synthesis of a new asymmetric heptadentate ligand based on the 1,3-diaminopropan-2-ol backbone. The ligand 3-[[3-(bis-pyridin-2-ylmethyl-amino)-2-hydroxy-propyl]-(2-carbamoyl-ethyl)-amino]-propionamide (HL1) contains two amide and two pyridine groups attached to the 1,3-diaminopropan-2-ol core. Reaction between HL1 and Zn(ClO₄)₂.6H₂O resulted in the formation of the dinuclear [Zn₂(L1)(μ-OAc)](ClO₄)₂ complex, characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, ¹H, ¹³C and ¹⁵N NMR, ESI-(+)-MS, CHN elemental analysis as well as infrared spectroscopy. The phosphatase activity of the complex was studied in the pH range 6-11 employing pyridinium bis(2,4-dinitrophenyl)phosphate (py(BDNPP)) as substrate. The complex exhibited activity dependent on the pH, presenting an asymmetric bell shape profile with the highest activity at pH 9; at high pH ligand exchange is rate-limiting. The hydrolysis of BDNPP^- at pH 9 displayed behavior characteristic of Michaelis-Menten kinetics, with k_cat = 5.06 × 10^-3 min^-1 and K_m = 5.7 ± 1.0 mM. DFT calculations map out plausible reaction pathways and identify a terminal, Zn(II)-bound hydroxide as likely nucleophile.

Hydrolytic activity of new bioinspired MnIIIMnII and FeIIIMnII complexes as mimetics of PAPs: Biological and environmental interest

Coordination compounds that mimic Purple Acid Phosphatases (PAPs) have drawn attention in the bioinorganic field due to their capacity to cleave phosphodiester bonds. However, their catalytic activity upon phosphate triesters is still unexplored. Thus, we report the synthesis and characterization of two binuclear complexes, [Mn^IIMn^III(L₁)(OAc)₂]BF₄ (1) and [Mn^IIFe^III(L₁)(OAc)₂]BF₄ (2) (H₂L₁ = 2-[N,N-bis-(2- pyridilmethyl)aminomethyl]-4-methyl-6-[N-(2-hydroxy-3-formyl-5-methylbenzyl)-N-(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl]phenol), their hydrolytic activity and antioxidant potential. The complexes were fully characterized, including the X-Ray diffraction (XRD) of 1. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to better understand their electronic and structural properties and phosphate conjugates. The catalytic activity was analyzed for two model substrates, a diester (BDNPP) and a triester phosphate (DEDNPP). The results suggest enhancement of the hydrolysis reaction by 170 to 1500 times, depending on the substrate and complex. It was possible to accompany the catalytic reaction of DEDNPP hydrolysis by phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance (³¹P NMR), showing that both 1 and 2 are efficient catalysts. Moreover, we also addressed that 1 and 2 present a relevant antioxidant potential, protecting the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, used as eukaryotic model of study, against the exposure of cells to acute oxidative stress.

Homodinuclear copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes of a carboxylate-rich ligand as synthetic mimics of phosphoester hydrolase in aqueous solutions

The synthesis, characterization and catalytic activities of two homodinuclear Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes of a carboxylate-rich ligand, N,N'-Bis[2-carboxybenzomethyl]-N,N' -Bis[carboxymethyl]-1,3-diaminopropan-2-ol (H₅ccdp) ligand towards the hydrolysis of (p-nitrophenyl phosphate) (PNPP) and bis(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate (BNPP) substrates in aqueous systems are described. Kinetic investigations were carried out using UV-Vis spectrophotometric techniques at 25 °C and 37 °C and different pH (7-10) conditions. The kinetic studies revealed that the turnover rate (k_cat) values among the PNPP hydrolysis systems, the highest and the lowest k_cat values were displayed by [Cu₂(ccdp)(μ-OAc)]^2- at 2.34 × 10^-6 s^-1 (pH 8 and 37 °C) and 2.13 × 10^-8 s^-1 (pH 8 and 25 °C), respectively. However, similar comparisons among the BNPP hydrolysis revealed that highest and the lowest k_cat values were displayed by [Zn₂(ccdp)(μ-OAc)]^2- at 4.64 × 10^-8 s^-1 (pH 9 and 37 °C) and 2.38 × 10^-9 (pH 9 and 25 °C). Significantly enough, the catalyst-substrate adduct species containing a metal bound PNPP and BNPP have been detected by ESI-MS techniques. Additionally, a PNPP-bound copper complex has been isolated and crystalized using single crystal X-ray diffraction technique. Based on the structural and activity information obtained in this study, reaction mechanisms for the hydrolysis of PNPP have been proposed.

Unraveling mechanisms of the uncoordinated nucleophiles: theoretical elucidations of the cleavage of bis(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate mediated by zinc-complexes with apical nucleophiles

A theoretical approach was used to investigate the hydrolytic cleavage mechanisms of the bis(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate (BNPP⁻) catalyzed by Zn(ii)-complexes featuring uncoordinated nucleophiles. Ligand-based and alternative solvent-based nucleophilic attack reaction models are proposed. The pK_a values of the Zn(ii)-bound water molecules or ligands in the [Zn(LⁿH)(η-H₂O)(H₂O)]²⁺ (n = 1, 2 and 3) complexes, as well as the dimerization tendency of the mononuclear Zn(ii)-complexes, were found to significantly influence the reaction mechanisms. The Zn(ii)-L³ complexes were found to be more favorable for the hydrolytic cleavage of the BNPP⁻via a ligand-based nucleophilic attack pathway. This was due to the lower pK_a value for the deprotonation of the oxime ligand, the hard dimerization of the mononuclear Zn(ii)-L³ species, and the presence of an uncoordinated nucleophile. The origins of the uncoordinated reactions were systematically elucidated. The theoretical results reported here are in good agreement with experimental observations and more importantly, help to elucidate the factors that influence intermolecular nucleophilic attack reactions with coordinated/uncoordinated nucleophiles.

A theoretical approach was used to investigate the hydrolytic cleavage mechanisms of the bis(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate (BNPP⁻) catalyzed by Zn(ii)-complexes featuring uncoordinated nucleophiles.

Dinuclear metal(ii)-acetato complexes based on bicompartmental 4-chlorophenolate: syntheses, structures, magnetic properties, DNA interactions and phosphodiester hydrolysis

A series of dinuclear metal(ii)-acetato complexes: [Ni2(μ-L(Cl)O)(μ2-OAc)2](PF6)·3H2O (1), [Ni2(μ-L(Cl)O)(μ2-OAc)2](ClO4)·CH3COCH3 (2), [Cu2(μ-L(Cl)O)(μ2-OAc)(ClO4)](ClO4) (3), [Cu2(μ-L(Cl)O)(OAc)2](PF6)·H2O (4), [Zn2(μ-L(Cl)O)(μ2-OAc)2](PF6) (5) and [Mn2(L(Cl)-O)(μ2-OAc)2](ClO4)·H2O (6), where L(Cl)O(-) = 2,6-bis[bis(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl]-4-chlorophenolate, were synthesized. The complexes were structurally characterized by spectroscopic techniques and single crystal X-ray crystallography. Six-coordinate geometries with doubly bridged acetato ligands were found in Ni(ii), Zn(ii) and Mn(ii) complexes 1, 2, 5 and 6, whereas with Cu(ii) complexes a five-coordinate species was obtained with 4, and mixed five- and six-coordinate geometries with a doubly bridged dimetal core were observed in 3. The magnetic properties of complexes 1-4 and 6 were studied at variable temperatures and revealed weak to very weak antiferromagnetic interactions in 1, 2, 4 and 6 (J = -0.55 to -9.4 cm(-1)) and ferromagnetic coupling in 3 (J = 15.4 cm(-1)). These results are consistent with DFT calculations performed at the B3LYP/def2-TZVP(-f) level of theory. Under physiological conditions, the interaction of the dinculear complexes 1-5 with supercoiled plasmid ds-DNA did not show any pronounced nuclease activity, but Ni(ii) complexes 1 and 2 revealed a strong ability to unwind the supercoiled conformation of ds-DNA. The mechanistic studies performed on the interaction of the Ni(ii) complexes with DNA demonstrated the important impact of the nickel(ii) ion in the unwinding process. In combination with the DNA study, the phosphatase activity of complexes 1, 3, and 5 was examined by the phosphodiester hydrolysis of bis(2,4-dinitrophenol)phosphate (BDNPP) in the pH range of 5.5-10.5 at 25 °C. The Michaelis-Menten kinetics performed at pH 7 and 10.7 showed that catalytic efficiencies kcat/KM (kcat = catalytic rate constant, KM = substrate binding constant) decrease in the order: Ni(ii), 1 > Zn(ii), 5 > Cu(ii), 3. A similar trend was also observed with the turnover numbers at pH = 7. The results are discussed in relation to the coordination geometry and nature of the metal center as well as the steric environment imposed by the compartmental phenoxido ligand.

Modeling the Active Site of the Purple Acid Phosphatase Enzyme with Hetero-Dinuclear Mixed Valence M(II)-Fe(III) [M = Zn, Ni, Co, and Cu] Complexes Supported over a [N6O] Unsymmetrical Ligand

The active site of the purple acid phosphatase enzyme has been successfully modeled by a series of hetero-dinuclear M(II)-Fe(III) [M = Zn, Ni, Co, and Cu] type complexes of an unsymmetrical [N₆O] ligand that contained a bridging phenoxide moiety and one imidazoyl and three pyridyl moieties as the terminal N-binding sites. In particular, the hetero-dinuclear complexes, {L[M^II(μ-OAc)₂Fe^III]}(ClO₄)₂ [M = Zn (3a), Ni (3b), Co (4a), and Cu (4b)], were obtained directly from the phenoxy-bridged ligand (HL), namely 2-{[bis(2-methylpyridyl)amino]methyl}-6-{[((1-methylimidazol-2-yl)methyl)(2-pyridylmethyl)amino]methyl}-4-t-butylphenol (2), upon sequential addition of Fe(ClO₄)₃·XH₂O and M(ClO₄)₂·6H₂O (M = Zn and Ni) or M(OAc)₂·XH₂O (M = Co and Cu), in a low-to-moderate (ca. 32-53%) yield. The temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements indicated weak antiferromagnetic coupling interactions occurring between the two metal centers in their high-spin states. All of the 3(a-b) and 4(a-b) complexes successfully carried out the hydrolysis of the bis(2,4-dinitrophenyl)phosphate (2,4-BDNPP) substrate in a mixed CH₃CN/H₂O (v/v 1:1) medium in the pH range of 5.5-10.5 at room temperature, thereby mimicking the functional activity of the native enzyme. The spectrophotometric titration suggested a monoaquated and dihydroxo species of the type {L[(H₂O)M^II(μ-OH)Fe^III(OH)]}²⁺ to be the catalytically active species for the phosphodiester hydrolysis reaction within the pH range of ca. 5.80-7.15. Last, the kinetic studies on the hydrolysis of the model substrate, 2,4-BDNPP, divulge a Michaelis-Menten-type behavior for all complexes.

Dinuclear cobalt(II) complexes with double phosphate ester bridges and tetradentate ligands having anisole or quinoline appendages

Phosphate esters provide a rigid and stable polymeric backbone in nucleic acids. Metal complexes with phosphate ester groups have been synthesized as structural and spectroscopic models of phosphate-containing enzymes. Dinucleating ligands are used extensively to synthesize model complexes since they provide the support required to stabilize such complexes. The crystal structures of two dinuclear CoII complexes, namely bis(μ-diphenyl phosphato-κ2 O:O′)bis({2-methoxy-N,N-bis[(pyridin-2-yl)methyl]aniline-κ4 N,N′,N′′,O}cobalt(II)) bis(perchlorate), [Co(C12H10O4P)2(C19H19N3O)2](ClO4)2, and bis(μ-diphenyl phosphato-κ2 O:O′)bis({N,N-bis[(pyridin-2-yl)methyl]quinolin-8-amine-κ4 N,N′,N′′,O}cobalt(II)) bis(perchlorate), [Co(C12H10O4P)2(C21H18N4)2](ClO4)2, with tetradentate 2-methoxy-N,N-bis[(pyridin-2-yl)methyl]aniline (L 1) and N,N-bis[(pyridin-2-yl)methyl]quinolin-8-amine (L 2) ligands are reported. The complexes have similar structures, with distorted octahedral geometries around the metal centres. Both are centrosymmetric (Z′ = 0.5), with the CoII centres doubly bridged by diphenyl phosphate ester groups. A number of aromatic–aromatic interactions are present and differ between the two complexes as the anisole group in L 1 is replaced by a quinoline group in L 2. A detailed study of these interactions is presented.

A phenoxo-bridged dicopper(ii) complex as a model for phosphatase activity: mechanistic insights from a combined experimental and computational study

A μ-phenoxo-bis(μ₂-1,3-acetato)-bridged dicopper(ii) complex [Cu(L¹)(μ-O₂CMe)₂][NO₃] (1) has been synthesized from the perspective of modeling phosphodiesterase activity. Structural characterization was done initially with 1·3Et₂O (vapour diffusion of Et₂O into MeOH solution of 1; poor crystal quality) and finally with its perchlorate salt [Cu(L¹)(μ-O₂CMe)₂][ClO₄]·1.375MeCN·0.25H₂O, crystallized from vapour diffusion of n-pentane into a MeCN-MeOH mixture (comparatively better crystal quality). An asymmetric unit of such a crystal contains two independent molecules of compositions [Cu(L¹)(μ-O₂CMe)₂][ClO₄] and [Cu(L¹)(μ-O₂CMe)₂(MeCN)][ClO₄] (coordinated MeCN with 0.75 occupancy), and two molecules of MeCN and H₂O (each H₂O molecule with 0.25 occupancy) as the solvent of crystallization. These two cations, each having five-coordinate (μ-phenoxo)bis(μ-acetato)-bridged Cu^II ions, differ by only the coordination environment of only one Cu^II ion, which has a weakly coordinated acetonitrile molecule in its sixth position. Temperature-dependent magnetic studies on 1 reveal that the copper(ii) centres are antiferromagnetically coupled with the exchange-coupling constant J = -124(1) cm^-1. Theoretically calculated J = -126.51 cm^-1, employing a broken-symmetry DFT approach, is in excellent agreement with the experimental value. The dicopper(ii) complex has been found to be catalytically efficient in the hydrolysis of 2-hydroxypropyl-p-nitrophenylphosphate (HPNP). Detailed kinetic experiments and solution studies (potentiometry, species distribution and ESI-MS) were performed to elucidate the reaction mechanism. DFT calculations were performed to discriminate between different possible mechanistic pathways. The free-energy barrier for HPNP hydrolysis catalyzed by 1 is comparable to that obtained from the experimentally-determined value. The involvement of non-covalent (hydrogen-bonding) interaction has also been probed by DFT calculations. The activity of 1 is found to be the highest, compared to the structurally-characterized Mn, Co, Ni and Zn complexes of L¹(-) reported earlier, under identical experimental conditions, in which each metal centre is six-coordinate.

Synthesis and characterization of FeIII(μ-OH)ZnII complexes: effects of a second coordination sphere and increase in the chelate ring size on the hydrolysis of a phosphate diester and DNA

Effects of a second coordination sphere and of the chelate ring size in Fe^III(μ-OH)Zn^II complexes properties and catalysis.

Dinuclear ZnII and mixed CuII-ZnII complexes of artificial patellamides as phosphatase models

The patellamides (cyclic pseudo-octapeptides) are produced by Prochloron, a symbiont of the ascidians, marine invertebrate filter feeders. These pseudo-octapeptides are present in the cytoplasm and a possible natural function of putative metal complexes of these compounds is hydrolase activity, however the true biological role is still unknown. The dinuclear Cu^II complexes of synthetic patellamide derivatives have been shown in in vitro experiments to be efficient hydrolase model catalysts. Many hydrolase enzymes, specifically phosphatases and carboanhydrases, are Zn^II-based enzymes and therefore, we have studied the Zn^II and mixed Zn^II/Cu^II solution chemistry of a series of synthetic patellamide derivatives, including solution structural and computational work, with the special focus on model phosphatase chemistry with bis-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)phosphate (BDNPP) as the substrate. The Zn^II complexes of a series of ligands are shown to form complexes of similar structure and stability compared to the well-studied Cu^II analogues and the phosphatase reactivities are also similar. Since the complex stabilities and phosphatase activities are generally a little lower compared to those of Cu^II and since the concentration of Zn^II in Prochloron cells is slightly smaller, we conclude that the Cu^II complexes of the patellamides are more likely to be of biological importance.

Metallohydrolase biomimetics with catalytic and structural flexibility

The phosphatase activity of zinc complexes containing six- and seven-dentate ligands was evaluated through kinetic and³¹P NMR studies.

Towards the design of organocatalysts for nerve agents remediation: The case of the active hydrolysis of DCNP (a Tabun mimic) catalyzed by simple amine-containing derivatives

We report herein a study of the hydrolysis of Tabun mimic DCNP in the presence of different amines, aminoalcohols and glycols as potential suitable organocatalysts for DCNP degradation. Experiments were performed in CD3CN in the presence of 5% D2O, which is a suitable solvent mixture to follow the DCNP hydrolysis. These studies allowed the definition of different DCNP depletion paths, resulting in the formation of diethylphosphoric acid, tetraethylpyrophosphate and phosphoramide species as final products. Without organocatalysts, DCNP hydrolysis occurred mainly via an autocatalysis path. Addition of tertiary amines in sub-stoichiometric amounts largely enhanced DCNP depletion whereas non-tertiary polyamines reacted even faster. Glycols induced very slight increment in the DCNP hydrolysis, whereas DCNP hydrolysis increased sharply in the presence of certain aminoalcohols especially, 2-(2-aminoethylamino)ethanol. For the latter compound, DCNP depletion occurred ca. 80-fold faster than in the absence of organocatalysts. The kinetic studies revealed that DCNP hydrolysis in the presence of 2-(2-aminoethylamino)ethanol occurred via a catalytic process, in which the aminoalcohol was involved. DCNP hydrolysis generally depended strongly on the structure of the amine, and it was found that the presence of the OHCH2CH2N moiety in the organocatalyst structure seems important to induce a fast degradation of DCNP.

Enhancing Phosphate Diester Cleavage by a Zinc Complex through Controlling Nucleophile Coordination

Metal-ion complexes are the most effective artificial catalysts capable of cleaving phosphate diesters under mild aqueous conditions. A central strategy for making these complexes highly reactive has been to use ligand-based alcohols that are coordinated to the ion, providing an ionised nucleophile under neutral conditions but at the expense of deactivating it. We have created a highly reactive Zn complex that is 350-fold more reactive than an alcohol analogue by preventing the nucleophile binding to the metal ion. This strategy successfully delivers the benefits of efficient nucleophile delivery without strongly deactivating the metal ion Lewis acidity nor the oxyanion nucleophilicity. Varying the leaving group reveals that the transition state of the reaction is much further advanced than the reaction with hydroxide.

Catalytic zinc complexes for phosphate diester hydrolysis

Creating efficient artificial catalysts that can compete with biocatalysis has been an enduring challenge which has yet to be met. Reported herein is the synthesis and characterization of a series of zinc complexes designed to catalyze the hydrolysis of phosphate diesters. By introducing a hydrated aldehyde into the ligand we achieve turnover for DNA-like substrates which, combined with ligand methylation, increases reactivity by two orders of magnitude. In contrast to current orthodoxy and mechanistic explanations, we propose a mechanism where the nucleophile is not coordinated to the metal ion, but involves a tautomer with a more effective Lewis acid and more reactive nucleophile. This data suggests a new strategy for creating more efficient metal ion based catalysts, and highlights a possible mode of action for metalloenzymes.