An Accurately-Constructed Structural Model for an Active Site of Fe-Containing Superoxide Dismutases (Fe-SODs)

A novel structural model, [Fe(bpga)(N3)(OCH3)] (1) (BPGA: bis(6-pivalamido-2-pyridylmethyl)(carboxy-methyl)amine), for an active site of Fe-containing SOD enzyme with N3- has been accurately designed and prepared, which has been characterized by X-ray structure analysis and UV−vis, ESR, and IR spectroscopies. Reaction of 1 with acid/base in methanol has shown that the superoxide-accessible site is the N3--coordination site in the equatorial plane.