New advances in ligand design for synthetic modeling of metalloprotein active sites

Judicious control of ligand steric bulk and auxiliary structural elements e nables the construction of novel synthetic complexes that model the propert ies of metalloprotein active sites, thus providing insight into their struc ture and function. Major recent developments include the synthesis of a num ber of unusual and biologically relevant complexes of copper and iron using elaborate N-donor and O-donor ligands.