Highly efficient phosphodiester hydrolysis promoted by a dinuclear copper(II) complex

The interaction of Cu(II) with the ligand tdci (1,3,5-trideoxy-1,3,5-tris(dimethylamino)-cis-inositol) was studied both in the solid state and in solution. The complexes that were formed were also tested for phosphoesterase activity. The pentanuclear complex [Cu(5)(tdciH(-2))(tdci)(2)(OH)(2)(NO(3))(2)](NO(3))(4).6H(2)O consists of two dinuclear units and one trinuclear unit, having two shared copper(II) ions. The metal centers within the pentanuclear structure have three distinct coordination environments. All five copper(II) ions are linked by hydroxo/alkoxo bridges forming a Cu(5)O(6) cage. The Cu-Cu separations of the bridged centers are between 2.916 and 3.782 A, while those of the nonbridged metal ions are 5.455-5.712 A. The solution equilibria in the Cu(II)-tdci system proved to be extremely complicated. Depending on the pH and metal-to-ligand ratio, several differently deprotonated mono-, di-, and trinuclear complexes are formed. Their presence in solution was supported by mass, CW, and pulse EPR spectroscopic study, too. In these complexes, the metal ions are presumed to occupy tridentate [O(ax),N(eq),O(ax)] coordination sites and the O-donors of tdci may serve as bridging units between two metal ions. Additionally, deprotonation of the metal-bound water molecules may occur. The dinuclear Cu(2)LH(-3) species, formed around pH 8.5, provides outstanding rate acceleration for the hydrolysis of the activated phosphodiester bis(4-nitrophenyl)phosphate (BNPP). The second-order rate constant of BNPP hydrolysis promoted by the dinuclear complex (T = 298 K) is 0.95 M(-1) s(-1), which is ca. 47600-fold higher than that of the hydroxide ion catalyzed hydrolysis (k(OH)). Its activity is selective for the phosphodiester, and the hydrolysis was proved to be catalytic. The proposed bifunctional mechanism of the hydrolysis includes double Lewis acid activation and intramolecular nucleophilic catalysis