Bioinorganic Laboratory Experiment: Synthesis and Catalytic Activity of a Vanadium Haloperoxidase Model Complex

Abstract

Laboratory experiments that offer interdisciplinary experiences for students are appealing and are increasingly popular additions to undergraduate chemistry curricula. Students can capitalize on their knowledge of multiple areas of chemistry while working through an application, and this fosters the development of progressive problem-solving skills. In this laboratory experiment, students combine the fields of inorganic chemistry with biological chemistry to synthesize and test the catalytic activity of a model of vanadium haloperoxidase, an enzyme naturally produced in certain brown- and red-seaweed species. Students use 1H NMR spectroscopy to monitor the oxidation of thioanisole to methyl phenyl sulfoxide using their prepared vanadium complex as the catalyst.