The greenhouse gas N 2 O is converted to N 2 by a µ-sulfido-tetracopper active site in the enzyme nitrous oxide reductase (N 2 OR) via a process postulated to involve µ-1,3 coordination of N 2 O to two Cu(I) ions. In efforts to develop synthetic models of the site with which to test mechanistic hypotheses, we have prepared a localized mixed valent Cu(II)Cu(I) 2 cluster bridged in µ-η 2 :η 1 :η 1 fashion by disulfide, [L 3 Cu 3 (µ 3 -S 2 )]X 2 (L = 1,4,7-trimethyl-triazacyclononane, X = O 3 SCF 3 − or SbF 6 − ). This cluster exhibits spectroscopic features similar to those of the active site in N 2 OR and reacts with N 2 O to yield N 2 in a reaction that models the function of the enzyme. Computations implicate a transition state structure that features µ-1,1-bridging of N 2 O via its O-atom to a [L 2 Cu 2 (µ-S 2 )] + fragment and provide chemical precedence for an alternative pathway for N 2 O reduction by N 2 OR.Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is an important greenhouse gas and component of the global nitrogen cycle. 1 Its reduction to dinitrogen (N 2 ) is thermodynamically favorable (E° = 1.76 V), making it attractive as an environmentally benign oxidant, yet its utility in this regard is limited by high kinetic barriers that limit reaction rates. Transition metals facilitate the reduction of N 2 O, although in most heterogeneous catalytic systems high temperatures are required 2 and homogeneous processes that operate under mild conditions generally use highly reducing lowvalent metal complexes. [3][4][5] In Nature, conversion of N 2 O to N 2 and H 2 O is catalyzed under ambient conditions during microbial dentrification by the metalloenzyme nitrous oxide reductase, N 2 OR. 6 X-ray crystallographic, 7 spectroscopic, and theoretical studies 8 have identified the active site of N 2 OR as a µ-sulfido-tetracopper cluster without precedent in biology or synthetic chemistry, which cycles through tetracopper(I) and mixed-valent states during catalysis. 9 A provocative mechanism for N 2 O reduction has been suggested that involves µ-1,3-coordination and bending of N 2 O between two of the copper ions in the fully reduced (all copper(I)) cluster, with the µ-sulfide acting to facilitate electron delocalization during the redox process. (Figure 1). The structures and spectroscopic properties of these complexes are similar to each other and to those of others with antiferromagnetically coupled (µ-η 2 :η 2 -disulfido)dicopper(II) cores. 11b, 12 For example, they are EPR silent and exhibit an intense S 2 2− → Cu(II) charge transfer transition at ~395 nm (ε 15,000 M −1 cm −1 , Figure 1c, red line), excitation into which (λ ex 406.7 or 457.0 nm) results in resonance enhancement of a peak in the Raman spectrum at ~431 cm −1 (Δ 34 S = 19 cm −1 ) attributable to an S-S stretching mode.Monitoring the reactions by UV-vis spectroscopy revealed the formation and subsequent decay (at room temperature, t 1/2 ~ 45 min) of an intermediate with λ max = 634 (1a) or 631 (1b) nm, respectively, the lifetime of which can be extended significa...