Pure and Applied Chemistry

Abstract: In the active-site cavity of vanadium haloperoxidases vanadate as the prosthetic group is solely fixed by one covalent bond to a histidine residue and embedded in a supramolecular environment of extensive hydrogen bonds. Structural aspects of relevant vanadium complexes with supramolecular interactions, including assemblies with chiral hosts, are presented. The importance of hydrogen-bonding relays is presented together with relevant examples. The reactivity of related functional mimics containing vanadium and molybdenum toward the oxidation of thioethers is described. Computational modeling based on density functional theory (DFT) is used for the investigation of model systems. The resulting implications for structure and function of vanadium haloperoxidases, including their substrate and cofactor specificity, are discussed.