Cobalt compounds of the general formula [COX2(alpha-diimine)], where X = Cl or I and the alpha-diimines are 1,4-diaryl-2,3-dimethyl-1,4-diaza-1,3-butadiene (Ar-DAB) and bis(aryl)acenaphthenequinonediimine (Ar-BIAN) were synthesized by the direct reaction of the anhydrous cobalt salts CoCl2 or CoI2 and the corresponding alpha-diinline ligand in dried CH2Cl2. The synthesized compounds are [Co(Ph-DAB)Cl-2] (1a), [Co(o,o',p-Me3C6H2-DAB)Cl-2] (1b), and [Co(o,o'iPr(2)C(6)H(3)-DAB)Cl-2] (1c) with the ligands Ar-DAB, and also [Co(o,o',p-Me3C6H2-BIAN)I-2] (2'b) with the ligand Ar-BIAN. The crystal structures of all the compounds were solved by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In all cases the cobalt atom is in a distorted tetrahedron, which is built up of two halide atoms and two nitrogen atoms of the alpha-dimune ligand. X-band EPR measurements of polycrystalline samples performed on compounds 1b, 1c, and 2'b indicate a high-spin Col, ion (S = 3/2) in an axially distorted environment. Single-crystal EPR experiments on compounds 1b and 1c allowed us to evaluate the orientation of the g tensor in the molecular frame. (c) Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co.

The bacterial cytochroine c peroxidases contain an electron-transferring haem c (E) and a peroxidatic haem c (P). Many are isolated in an inactive oxidised state. Reduction of the E baem promotes Ca2+-dependent spin state and coordination changes at the P haem rendering it accessible to ligand. Recent crystallographic work on the oxidised and mixed valence enzymes has suggested a mechanism by which an electron entering the E haem remotely triggers this activation of the P haem. Binding of hydrogen peroxide at the activated P haem leads to an intermediate catalytic form containing two oxidising equivalents, one of which is a ferryl oxene. This form of the enzyme is then reduced by two single electron transfers to the E haem delivered by small redox proteins such as cytochromes or cupredoxins. The binding of these small redox proteins is dominated by global electrostatic forces but the interfaces of the electron transfer complexes that are formed are largely hydrophobic and relatively non-specific. These features allow very high electron transfer rates in the steady state. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.