Oxygen activation at non-heme diiron active sites in biology: lessons from model complexes*

In the past few years a number of iron complexes have been synthesized and characterized that model features of intermediates involved in the oxygen-activation chemistry of non-heme diiron enzymes such as methane monooxygenase, ribonucleotide reductase, and fatty acid desaturases. Insights derived from these efforts are discussed in the context of a common mechanistic framework for these enzymes.