Ferrous complexes with aromatic α-substituted tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine ligands: effect of the substituents and biomimetic reactivity

Biomimetic oxidations at active sites of iron proteins involve peroxides, especially hydrogen peroxide which is a strong and very convenient reagent since it is inexpensive and does not release any toxic by-products. In many cases however, mother Nature uses molecular dioxygen to carry out major oxidation reactions in particularly attractive conditions. The biomimetic interest of iron complexes in the tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine series TPA is no longer to demonstrate. We prepared various α-substituted TPA-based ligands with the idea to modulate the electronic properties at the metal centre. We then checked the reactivity of a one example of complexes towards molecular dioxygen.