Dioxygen Activation and Pyrrole α-Cleavage with Calix[4]pyrrolato Aluminates: Enzyme Model by Structural Constraint.

The present work describes the reaction of triplet dioxygen with the porphyrinogenic calix[4]pyrrolato aluminates to alkylperoxido aluminates in high selectivity. Multiconfigurational quantum chemical computations disclose the mechanism for this spin-forbidden process. Despite a negligible spin-orbit coupling constant, the intersystem crossing (ISC) is facilitated by singlet and triplet state degeneracy and spin-vibronic coupling. The formed peroxides are stable toward external substrates but undergo an unprecedented oxidative pyrrole α-cleavage by ligand aromatization/dearomatization-initiated O-O σ-bond scission. A detailed comparison of the calix[4]pyrrolato aluminates with dioxygen-related enzymology provides insights into the ISC of metal- or cofactor-free enzymes. It substantiates the importance of structural constraint and element-ligand cooperativity for the functions of aerobic life.