Iron porphyrin as a cytochrome P450 model for the oxidation of xanthene

Cytochrome P450 enzyme is a superfamily of heme-containing enzyme, which play an important part in the metabolism of xenobiotics and biosynthesis of natural products. Cytochrome P450 enzyme is able to catalyze a series of challenging oxidation reactions, thus, it has attracted increased attention as a promising biocatalyst for synthetic chemistry. Transition-metal complexes of porphyrins have been successfully synthesized as models for the cytochrome P450 enzyme, and used to the oxidation of organic compounds such as hydrocarbons. In the current study, an iron porphyrin, 5,10,15,20-tetra (4-methoxyphenyl) porphine ferric chloride (III) (Fe(III)TCPP-OMe) is used as the catalyst for the oxidation of xanthene with peroxide oxidants (cumyl hydroperoxide (CmOOH) and tert -butyl hydroperoxide (t-BuOOH)). t-BuOOH)). Fe(III)TCPP-OMe shows high catalytic oxidation efficiency of xanthene and high selectivity for the formation of 9-H-xanthene-9-ol. This work provides a feasible method for the oxidation of hydrocarbons.