Predicting Properties of Iron(III) TAML Activators of Peroxides from Their III/IV and IV/V Reduction Potentials or a Lost Battle to Peroxidase.

A cyclic voltammetry study of a series of iron(III) TAML activators of peroxides of several generations in acetonitrile as solvent reveals reversible or quasireversible FeIII/IV and FeIV/V anodic transitions, the formal reduction potentials (E°') for which are observed in the ranges 0.4-1.2 and 1.4-1.6 V, respectively, versus Ag/AgCl. The slope of 0.33 for a linear E°'(IV/V) against E°'(III/IV) plot suggests that the TAML ligand system plays a bigger role in the FeIII/IV transition, whereas the second electron transfer is to a larger extent an iron-centered phenomenon. The reduction potentials appear to be a convenient tool for analysis of various properties of iron TAML activators in terms of linear free energy relationships (LFERs). The values of E°'(III/IV) and E°'(IV V-1 ) correlate 1) with the pKa values of the axial aqua ligand of iron(III) TAMLs with slopes of 0.28 and 0.06 V, respectively; 2) with the Stern-Volmer constants KSV for the quenching of fluorescence of propranolol, a micropollutant of broad concern; 3) with the calculated ionization potentials of FeIII and FeIV TAMLs; and 4) with rate constants kI and kII for the oxidation of the resting iron(III) TAML state by H2 O2 and reactions of the active forms of TAMLs formed with donors of electrons S, respectively. Interestingly, slopes of log kII versus E°'(III/IV) plots are lower for fast-to-oxidize S than for slow-to-oxidize S. The log kI versus E°'(III/IV) plot suggests that the manmade TAML catalyst can never be as reactive toward H2 O2 as a horseradish peroxidase enzyme.