[Fe]-Hydrogenase and Models that Contain IronAcyl Ligation

[Fe]-Hydrogenase and Models that Contain Iron<img src="http://onlinelibrarystatic.wiley.com/undisplayable_characters/00f8ff.gif" alt="[BOND]">Acyl Ligation:

Abstract

[Fe]-hydrogenase is a newly characterized type of hydrogenase. This enzyme heterolytically splits hydrogen in the presence of a natural substrate. The active site of the enzyme contains a mono-iron complex with intriguing ironacyl ligation. Several groups have recently developed ironacyl complexes as synthetic models of [Fe]-hydrogenase. This Focus Review summarizes the studies of this enzyme and its model compounds, with an emphasis on our own research in this area.

Plenty of [Fe]s in the fire: Recent studies on the structure and properties of [Fe]-hydrogenase have revealed the presence of a mono-iron-containing active site with ironacyl ligation. A number of synthetic complexes with this type of ligation have been prepared as models of this active site.