Moving Protons and Electrons in Biomimetic Systems

An enormous variety of biological redox reactions are accompanied by changes in proton content at enzyme active sites, in their associated cofactors, in substrates and/or products, and between protein interfaces. Understanding this breadth of reactivity is an ongoing chemical challenge. A great many workers have developed and investigated biomimetic model complexes to build new ways of thinking about the mechanistic underpinnings of such complex biological proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions. Of particular importance are those model reactions that involve transfer of one proton (H(+)) and one electron (e(-)), which is equivalent to transfer of a hydrogen atom (H(•)). In this Current Topic, we review key concepts in PCET reactivity and describe important advances in biomimetic PCET chemistry, with a special emphasis on research that has enhanced efforts to understand biological PCET reactions.