Structurally Characterized Non-Heme Fe(IV)Oxo Complexes: A Brief Overview

Abstract

Iron(II) centers found in both heme and non-heme enzymes, are the most important metal centre responsible for effectively activating molecular oxygen. Activation of molecular oxygen is important for natural systems and many industrially important reactions. Iron(IV)oxo unit is one of the important intermediates found among the various high valent oxo iron intermediates formed during substrate oxidation in natural enzymes. In this review article, the different synthetic strategies were focused and followed to obtain the X-ray structurally characterized model iron(IV)oxo complexes with non-heme ligands. The ligands were categorized in three different classes and showed how designing a proper ligand, binding with Fe(II) center and reacting it with a suitable oxidizing agent can finally give rise to a system similar to natural systems. Stability of these complexes and some preliminary characterization have also been discussed. The crystallographic characterization of these synthetic models containing iron(IV)oxo intermediates was necessary to understand the mechanistic pathway they follow to mimic the difficult oxidation reactions performed by natural enzymes. In this review, not only the synthetic strategies for these non-heme iron(IV)oxo complexes were highlighted but a detailed structural analysis for these important intermediates were also discussed.