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Changing Paradigms in Science: Myth or Truth of a Role of Cu(III) in Biology
Abstract: Changing well-established paradigms is challenging in science, given that such
challenges are generally inferential and scientists are natural skeptics. In biology, the wellestablished copper redox paradigm is that it serves as a one electron reservoir shuttling between
Cu(I) and Cu(II) oxidation states; Cu(III) is not considered biologically relevant as no direct
spectroscopic evidence exists. Yet, synthetic Cu(I) complexes that reproduce the ligation
environment of multi-copper oxidase enzymes, oxygenate to form well-characterized Cu(III)
oxide complexes. The talk will focus on our journey to provide chemical evidence that Cu(III)
should not be dismissed from the mechanistic discussions of multi-copper oxidase enzymes. |