Reduction of nitrous acid with a macrocyclic rhodium complex that acts as a functional model of nitrite reductase.

Nitrous acid reacts with L(2)(H(2)O)Rh(2+) (L(2) = meso-hexamethylcyclam) in acidic aqueous solutions to generate a strongly absorbing intermediate Int-1 (λ(max) 400 nm, ε = 1200 M(-1) cm(-1)). The reaction follows a mixed second order rate law with k = (6.9 ± 0.3) × 10(4) M(-1) s(-1), independent of [H(+)]. The lack of acid dependence shows that Int-1 is a rhodium(II) complex of HNO(2), most reasonably assigned as L(2)(H(2)O)Rh(HNO(2))(2+). This species is analogous to the early iron and copper intermediates in the reduction of nitrite by nitrite reductases and by deoxyhemoglobin. In the presence of excess L(2)(H(2)O)Rh(2+), the lifetime of Int-1 is about 1 min. It decays to a 1:1 mixture of L(2)(H(2)O)RhNO(2+) and L(2)Rh(H(2)O)(2)(3+) with kinetics that are largely independent of the concentration of excess L(2)(H(2)O)Rh(2+) and of [H(+)] at [H(+)] < 0.03 M. At [H(+)] > 0.03 M, an acid-catalyzed pathway becomes effective, suggesting protonation and dehydration of Int-1 to generate L(2)(H(2)O)RhNO(3+) (Int-2) followed by rapid reduction of Int-2 by excess L(2)(H(2)O)Rh(2+). Int-2, which was generated and characterized independently, is an analog of the electrophilic intermediates in the mechanism of biological reduction of nitrite to (•)NO. Excess nitrite greatly reduces the lifetime of Int-1, which under such conditions decomposes on a millisecond time scale by nitrite-catalyzed disproportionation to yield L(2)(H(2)O)RhNO(2+) and L(2)Rh(III). This reaction provides additional support for the designation of Int-1 as a Rh(II) species. The complex reaction mechanism and the detection of Int-1 demonstrate the ability of inorganic complexes to perform the fundamental chemistry believed to take place in the biological reduction of HNO(2) to NO catalyzed by nitrite reductases or deoxyhemoglobin.