Six Mn-Schiff base
complexes, [Mn(X-salpn)]
0/+
(salpn
= 1,3-bis(sal-ic-ylidenamino)propane, X = H [
1
], 5-Cl
[
2
], 2,5-F
2
[
3
], 3,5-Cl
2
[
4
], 5-NO
2
[
5
], 3,5-(NO
2
)
2
[
6
]), were synthesized and characterized
in solution, and second-sphere effects on their electrochemical and
spectroscopic properties were analyzed. The six complexes catalyze
the dismutation of superoxide with catalytic rate constants in the
range 0.65 to 1.54 × 10
6
M
–1
s
–1
obtained through the nitro blue tetrazolium photoreduction
inhibition superoxide dismutases assay, in aqueous medium of pH 7.8.
In solution, these compounds possess two labile solvent molecules
in the axial positions favoring coordination of the highly nucleophilic
O
2
•–
to the metal center. Even
complex
5
, [Mn(5-(NO
2
)salpn) (OAc) (H
2
O)], with an axial acetate in the solid state, behaves as
a 1:1 electrolyte in methanolic solution. Electron paramagnetic resonance
and UV–vis monitoring of the reaction of [Mn(X-salpn)]
0/+
with KO
2
demonstrates that in diluted solutions
these complexes behave as catalysts supporting several additions of
excess O
2
•–
, but at high complex
concentrations (≥0.75 mM) catalyst self-inhibition occurs by
the formation of a catalytically inactive dimer. The correlation of
spectroscopic, electrochemical, and kinetics data suggest that second-sphere
effects control the oxidation states of Mn involved in the O
2
•–
dismutation cycle catalyzed by complexes
1–6
and modulate the strength of the Mn-substrate adduct
for electron-transfer through an inner-sphere mechanism.