Modeling superoxide dismutase:: Immobilizing a Cu-Zn complex in porous matrices and activity testing in H2O2 decomposition

A bimetallic bridged complex, the Cu(II)-diethylene-triamino-mu-imidazolato-Zn(II)-tris-aminoethylamine triperchlorato complex, was prepared and immobilized in AlMCM-41 and montmorillonite. The host-guest materials were intended to be superoxide dismutase mimics, however, only the complex intercalated in montmorillonite proved to be active in oxygen transfer reaction. The inability of the complex immobilized in AlMCM-41 to decompose an aqueous solution of H2O2 might be due to diffusional constraints exerted on the reactants and/or the products by the relatively more regulated environment of molecular sieve than that of the layered clay.