The affinity of iron for diatomic molecules, O2, CO, N2, and NO, is central to the most important of life processes, including those of human physiology.  This report will focus on dinitrosyl iron complexes (DNICs) that serve as biomimetics of products of FeS cluster degradation by excesses of NO.  Whether there is a physiological function such as NO storage in protein bound forms, or NO transport by low molecular weight (RS)2Fe(NO)2- (RS- = cysteine or glutathione) and histidine analogues has yet to be unambiguously established, extensive chemical and biological precedents for such non-heme iron nitrosyls is prescient of their potential existence.  The electronic ambivalence of the DNIC unit is expressed in the ease with which it interconverts between oxidized and reduced forms, {Fe(NO)2}9 and {Fe(NO)2}10, respectively.  The accessory ligands which stabilize one redox level over the other, including N-heterocyclic carbenes as histidine mimics, and their properties will be described.

When iron meets nitric oxide:  Good chemistry, intriguing biology

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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