[Cu₃(μ-S)₂]³⁺ clusters supported by N-donor ligands: Progress toward a synthetic model of the catalytic site of nitrous oxide reductase

By treating Cu(I) complexes of neutral, bidentate N-donor ligands with S₈, clusters with novel delocalized mixed-valence [Cu₃(μ-S)₂]³⁺ cores have been isolated. X-ray crystal structures and UV-vis and resonance Raman spectral features of these clusters reveal similarities to the tetracopper-sulfide "CuZ" site in nitrous oxide reductase. A delocalized S = 1 ground state for the mixed-valent Cu^IIICu₂^II cores is supported by the observation of high symmetry in the X-ray structures and 10-line hyperfine features arising from coupling to three equivalent Cu ions in EPR spectra obtained at room temperature (shown) and 10 K. The delocalization we observe contrasts with the localization reported previously for a [Cu₃(μ-O)₂]³⁺ analogue (Root, D. E.; Henson, M. J.; Machonkin, T.; Mukherjee, P.; Stack, T. D. P.; Solomon, E. I. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 4982), which we rationalized through DFT calculations.