Bioinspired mononuclear Mn complexes for O2 activation and biologically relevant reactions

A general interest in harnessing the oxidizing power of dioxygen (O-2) continues to motivate research efforts on bioinspired and biomimetic complexes to better understand how metalloenzymes mediate these reactions. The ubiquity of Fe- and Cu-based enzymes attracts significant attention and has resulted in many noteworthy developments for abiotic systems interested in direct O-2 reduction and small molecule activation. However, despite the existence of Mn-based metalloenzymes with important O-2-dependent activity, there has been comparatively less focus on the development of these analogues relative to Fe- and Cu-systems. In this Perspective, we summarize important contributions to the development of bioinspired mononuclear Mn complexes for O-2 activation and studies on their reactivity, emphasizing important design parameters in the primary and secondary coordination spheres and outlining mechanistic trends.

Automated summary

Research efforts on bioinspired and biomimetic complexes for harnessing the oxidizing power of O-2 have focused more on Fe- and Cu-based enzymes, with comparatively less attention on Mn-based enzymes. Progress has been made in the development of bioinspired mononuclear Mn complexes for O-2 activation, emphasizing design parameters and mechanistic trends.