In
the present DFT study, mechanisms of peptide hydrolysis by Co(III)-
and Cu(II)-containing complexes of 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane
(cyclen), 1-Co and 1-Cu, respectively, and
1-oxa-4,7,10-triazacyclododecane (oxacyclen), 2-Co and 2-Cu, respectively, and their analogues have been investigated.
In addition, the effects of the ligand environment, pendant (an organic
group containing a recognition site) and metal ion (Co(III), Cu(II),
Ni(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), and Pd(II)), on the energetics of this reaction
have been elucidated. The reactant of the 1-Co complex
exists in the syn–anti conformation, while
that of 1-Cu in the syn–syn form.
For both these complexes, stepwise and concerted mechanisms were found
to occur with similar barriers. The substitution of one of the nitrogen
atoms in the cyclen macrocycle to create oxacyclen should occur at
position 10 in the Co(III) case and at position 4 in the Cu(II) case.
A comparison between the barriers using the common conformation (syn–anti) of 1-Co and 2-Co showed that both complexes hydrolyze the peptide bond with similar
barriers, i.e., 39.8 kcal/mol for the former and 40.1 kcal/mol for
the latter. This result is in line with the measured data that suggest
that the oxacyclen complex exhibits just four times greater activity
than the cyclen complex. The removal of the pendant (−C2H5) group in the Co(III)- and Cu(II)-cyclen complexes
(1′-Co and 1′-Cu, respectively) reduced the barriers by 9.3 and 3.0 kcal/mol,
respectively. For 1′-Co, the barrier
of 30.5 kcal/mol is in agreement with the experimental value of 25.9
kcal/mol for the cleavage of myoglobin at pH 9.0 and 50 °C. The
reactants of 1′-Cu, 1′-Zn, 1′-Pd,
and 1′-Cd adopt the syn–syn conformation, whereas 1′-Ni and 1′-Co exist in the syn–anti geometry. The barriers for 1′-Ni (triplet spin state), 1′-Cu (doublet
spin state), 1′-Cd (singlet spin
state), 1′-Co (singlet spin state),
and 1′-Zn (singlet spin state) are
similar, i.e., 27.2, 29.7, 30.5, 30.5, and 31.9 kcal/mol, respectively,
and the highest barrier (41.5 kcal/mol) is computed for 1′-Pd (singlet spin state).