The detailed structure of catalytic center of water oxidation, Mn4Ca-cluster, in photosystem ⅡI (PSII) has been reported recently. However, due to the radiation damage induced by X-ray and the complexity of the Mn4Ca-cluster, the assignment of the μ4-O5 atom coordinated by three Mn and one Ca2+ ions is still lack of essential evidences. In this article, we synthesized one Mn complex containing two μ4-O atoms. It is found that the lengths of all μ4-O-Mn bonds in this Mn complex are in the range of 1.89-2.10 , which are significantly shorter than 2.40-2.61 distance of μ4-O5-Mn bonds in Mn4Ca-cluster observed in the crystal structure of PSII. In addition, DFT calculations have been carried out on the Mn4Ca-cluster. It is found that the O atom of μ4-O or μ4-OH always trends to deviate from the center position of four metal ions, resulting in unequal bond lengths of four μ4-4-M (M=Mn or Ca), which is obviously different with larger and nearly equal distances between μ4-O and four metal ions observed in the crystal structure. Based on these results, we suggest that the μ4-atom in Mn4Ca-cluster of PSII is unlikely to be a μ4-O, μ4-OH or μ4-OH2 , and its assignment is still an open question.
The secondary electron donor, TyrZ, is implicated in tuning the primary charge separation and the water oxidation in active pho-tosystem II (PSII). Two types of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the function of TyrZ. One is that TyrZ tunes the water oxidation through the direct interaction with substrate water molecules; the other is that TyrZ is located in a hydrophobic envi-ronment without interacting with H2O, and controls the water oxidation by tuning the strength of the hydrogen bond between TyrZ and His190. Here, methanol was used as a probe to study the possible relationship between TyrZ and H2O by monitoring the TyrZ oxidation and TyrZ· reduction at cryogenic temperatures with electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The oxidation of TyrZ and reduction of TyrZ· in both S2 and S0 states at 10 K were accelerated by addition of a small amount of methanol (6%). Theoretical studies indicate that Tyr oxidation becomes more difficult if it interacts directly with the methanol molecule; while the decrease of the polarity of its environment accelerates the oxidation of Tyr. Accordingly, CH3OH does not directly interact with TyrZ in active PSII, and the accelerative effect of methanol is caused by the strength increase of the hydrogen bond between TyrZ and His190, resulting from the decrease of polarity of their environment after the displacement of H2O by CH3OH inside PSII. Considering the similarity between methanol and water, the results in this study support the model in which TyrZ does not interact with H2O in active PSII.
BAO Han, ZHANG ChunXi, REN YaNan & ZHAO JingQuan Laboratory of Photochemistry, Beijing National Laboratory of Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
The understanding of the structure-function relationship of the oxygen-evolving center(OEC), a Mn_4 Cacluster, in photosystem II is impeded mainly due to the complexity of the protein environment and lack of rational chemical models as a reference. In this study, two novel Mn_4-oxido complexes have been synthesized and characterized, in which the peripheral ligands of the [Mn_4~Ⅲ] core are provided by eight μ_2-carboxylate groups and two neutral terminal ligands(pyridine or isoquinoline). This type of peripheral ligation is very similar to the Mn_4Ca-oxide model complexes recently reported to mimic the OEC. The new Mn_4-oxide complex can catalyze the oxygen-evolving reaction in the presence of Bu^tOOH as an oxidant. The structure and redox properties comparison of the Mn_4-oxido and Mn_4Ca-oxido complexes provide important clues to understanding the functional role of Ca in the OEC in natural photosynthesis, and develop more efficient artificial catalysts for the water-splitting reaction in the future.
A new ligand, 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-5,6-dichlorobenzimidazole, H2pbmCl2(1), and a novel MnIII complex, [MnIII(HpbmCl2)(pbmCl2)(DMF)2](2),(DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide), have been synthesized and characterized. The crystal of compound 1(C13H8Cl2N2O, Mr = 279.12) belongs to the monoclinic system, space group P21 with a = 3.770(5), b = 25.20(3), c = 5.865(7) , = 92.727(17)o, V = 556.6(12) 3, Z = 2, Dc = 1.665 g/cm3, S = 1.137, μ= 0.568 mm-1, F(000) = 284, the final R = 0.0876 and wR = 0.2334 for 1848 independent reflections. The molecule is planar due to the presence of a strong intramolecular hydrogen bond between O–H group of phenol and N atom of imidazole. H2pbmCl2(1) molecules are arranged into a one-dimensional linear chain through intermolecular hydrogen bonds(N–H···O and C–H···Cl). The crystal of complex 2(C32H27Cl4MnN6O4, Mr = 756.34) belongs to the monoclinic system, space group P21/c with a = 19.043(10), b = 10.808(5), c = 18.704(11), = 115.540(6)o, V = 3473(3) 3, Z = 4, Dc = 1.446 g/cm3, S = 1.3, μ = 0.733 mm-1, F(000) = 1544, the final R = 0.1219 and wR = 0.2681 for 7811 independent reflections. The Mn ion adopts a distorted octahedral geometry coordinated by two deprotonated H2pbmCl2 ligands and two DMF molecules. The [MnIII(HpbmCl2)(pbmCl2)(DMF)2] molecules are arranged into a three-dimensional structure through hydrogen bonds(N–H···N, C–H···N and C–H···Cl) and weak π···πinteractions. The activity measurements suggest that complex 2 is able to serve as a catalyst for H2O2 disproportionation reaction to form O2 in neutral water solution.
