title: A highly reactive mononuclear Zn(II) complex for phosphodiester cleavage.
abstract: The activity of a Zn(II) complex of a tetradentate, tripodal ligand for catalyzing phosphodiester cleavage is enhanced 750-fold by introducing three hydrogen bond donors to the ligand. Inhibition studies show that the Zn-aqua complex is the kinetically active form and that it binds the transition state with a formal dissociation constant of 3 x 108 M-1. The effect of these ligand modifications on the transition-state affinity is comparable to the rate acceleration provided by the metal ion itself. Overall, this mononuclear complex is more active than the most reactive dinuclear Zn(II) complexes reported to date.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Chemical Biology, Department of Chemistry, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom S3 7HF.
authors.forename: Guoqiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Juan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Mareque-Rivas
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Torres Martín de Rosales
authors.forename: Nicholas H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Williams