Studies of Pyridinyl-Containing 14-Membered Macrocyclic Copper(ii) Complexes

摘要

Six copper(ii) complexes of tetracoordinating, pyridinyl-containing 14-membered macrocycles with varying ratios of nitrogen and oxygen donor atoms were prepared and characterized by IR, UV/Vis, and EPR spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. A distorted tetragonal coordination of the copper center in the solid-state was established by X-ray crystallography for the tetraazamacrocyclic complex Cu-3 carrying a methoxybenzyl pendent arm and the trioxaaza complex Cu-6. The superoxide dismutase-like activity of the Cu~(II) complexes was investigated by inhibition of NADH oxidation. Although the UV/Vis and EPR spectra of the complexes were strongly affected when the coordinating nitrogen atoms were successively replaced by oxygen atoms, no significant change in their reactivity towards superoxide was observed. In all cases a 1:1 or 1:2 stoichiometry for the reaction with superoxide was found, with the exception of the methoxybenzyl-substituted tetraaza complex, which showed a low catalytic activity with a turnover number of about 10.