Oxidative dehalogenation of halophenols by high-valent nonheme iron(IV)-oxo intermediates

Mononuclear high-valent iron(IV)-oxo intermediates are excellent oxidants towards oxygenation reactions by heme and
nonheme metalloenzymes and their model systems. One of the most important functions of these intermediates in nature
is to detoxify various environmental pollutants. Organic substrates such as halogenated phenols are known to be water
pollutants which can be degraded to their less hazardous forms through an oxidation reaction by iron(IV)-oxo complexes.
Metalloproteins in the Nature utilize various types of second-coordination sphere interactions to anchor the substrate in
the vicinity of the active site. This concept of substrate-binding is well-known for natural enzymes, but quite elusive for the
relevant biomimetic model systems. Herein, we report the oxidative reactivity patterns of an iron(IV)-oxo intermediate,
[FeIV(O)(2PyN2Q)]2+, (2PyN2Q = 1,1-di(pyridin-2yl)-N, N-bis(quinolin-2-ylmethyl)methanamine) with a series of mono-, diand tri-halophenols. A detailed experimental study shows that the dehalogenation reactions of the halophenols by such
iron(IV)-oxo intermediates proceed via an initial hydrogen atom abstraction from the phenolic O-H group. Further, based on
the size and nucleophilicity of the halophenol, an intermediate substrate-bound species forms , that is a phenolate adduct
to the ferric species - which thereafter leads to the formation of the corresponding products.