Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry Related to the Nitrogenase Cofactor: Core Heteroligated Fe-S-X Cubanes and Higher Nuclearity Clusters

大气中氮转化为氨的生物过程对地球上的生命至关重要。这个反应很难完成——等效的工业化学反应需要高温和高压来进行转化。微生物利用氮酶系统在温和的环境条件下完成这一反应。酶的核心是一簇铁、硫、钼和碳原子，称为铁钼辅助因子，它执行这种化学反应。它是如何做到的仍然是个谜。

The biological conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia is essential to life on Earth. The reaction is difficult to accomplish -- the equivalent industrial chemistry requires high temperatures and pressures to perform the conversion. Microbes use the nitrogenase enzyme system to achieve this reaction under mild, ambient conditions. At the heart of the enzyme is a cluster of iron, sulfur, molybdenum, and carbon atoms termed the iron-molybdenum cofactor that carries out this chemistry. How it does so is very much a mystery. Our research program attempts to define the chemistry associated with the cofactor. We study small, accessible molecules that mimic key aspects of the cluster. By understanding the behavior of these models, we hope to shed light on the workings of the cofactor. Knowledge gained from our studies is important not only with respect to the fundamental understanding of a critical biochemical process, but also for the development of new reactions useful to the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.