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Updated: Jul 5, 2026
![Protein Film Infrared Electrochemistry Demonstrated for Study of H2 Oxidation by a [NiFe] Hydrogenase](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcloudfront.jove.com%2FCDNSource%2Fteasers%2F55858.jpg&w=3840&q=50)
Protein Film Infrared Electrochemistry Demonstrated for Study of H2 Oxidation by a [NiFe] Hydrogenase
Published on: December 4, 2017
Tyrosinase reactivity in a model complex: an alternative hydroxylation mechanism
Liviu M Mirica1, Michael Vance, Deanne Jackson Rudd
1Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA.
Abstract:
The binuclear copper enzyme tyrosinase activates O2 to form a mu-eta2:eta2-peroxodicopper(II) complex, which oxidizes phenols to catechols. Here, a synthetic mu-eta2:eta2-peroxodicopper(II) complex, with an absorption spectrum similar to that of the enzymatic active oxidant, is reported to rapidly hydroxylate phenolates at -80 degrees C. Upon phenolate addition at extreme temperature in solution (-120 degrees C), a reactive intermediate consistent with a bis-mu-oxodicopper(III)-phenolate complex, with the O-O bond fully cleaved, is observed experimentally. The subsequent hydroxylation step has the hallmarks of an electrophilic aromatic substitution mechanism, similar to tyrosinase. Overall, the evidence for sequential O-O bond cleavage and C-O bond formation in this synthetic complex suggests an alternative intimate mechanism to the concerted or late stage O-O bond scission generally accepted for the phenol hydroxylation reaction performed by tyrosinase.
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