A zinc thiolate species which mimics aspects of the chemistry of the Ada repair protein and matrix metalloproteinases: the synthesis, structure and reactivity of the tris(2-mercapto-1-phenylimidazolyl)hydroborato complex [TmPh]ZnSPh †

The tris(2-mercapto-1-phenylimidazolyl)hydroborato ligand, [TmPh], has been used to prepare the zinc phenylthiolate derivative, [TmPh]ZnSPh, which provides a good structural model for zinc enzymes that possess [Zn(Cys)4] motifs; furthermore, the reactivity of the thiolate linkage in [TmPh]ZnSPh mimics the chemistry of the Ada protein and the activation mechanism of matrix metalloproteinases.