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Free keywords:
copper; enzyme models; nickel; radicals;Schiff base ligands
Abstract:
Copper or nickel? The depicted CuII salen complex, an active‐site model of galactose oxidase (GO), is a localized radical in the solid state with a quinoid distribution of bond lengths in one ring. While the ligand‐radical structure is not metal‐dependent, the composition of the radical SOMO is. This feature may explain the much lower reactivity of the Ni complex and nature's preference for a CuII center in GO.