Iron(II)-thiolate S-oxygenation by O2: synthetic models of cysteine dioxygenase

The synthesis of structural and functional models of the active site of the nonheme iron enzyme cysteine dioxygenase (CDO) is reported. A bis(imino)pyridine ligand scaffold was employed to synthesize a mononuclear ferrous complex, Fe(II)(LN(3)S)(OTf) (1), which contains three neutral nitrogen donors and one anionic thiolato donor. Complex 1 is a good structural model of the Cys-bound active site of CDO. Reaction of 1 with O(2) results in oxygenation of the thiolato sulfur, affording the sulfonato complex Fe(II)(LN(3)SO(3))(OTf) (2) under mild conditions. Isotope labeling studies show that O(2) is the sole source of O atoms in the product and that the reaction proceeds via a dioxygenase-type mechanism for two out of three O atoms added, analogous to the dioxygenase reaction of CDO. The zinc(II) analog, Zn(LN(3)S)(OTf) (4), was prepared and found to be completely unreactive toward O(2), suggesting a critical role for Fe(II) in the oxygenation chemistry observed for 1. To our knowledge, S-oxygenation mediated by an Fe(II)-SR complex and O(2) is unprecedented.