Spectroscopic examination of the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide by a copper(II) complex of a dissymmetric Schiff base and an imidazole derivative

Previous studies involving copper (II) complexed with a dissymmetric Schiff base and imidazole derivatives had identified catalase activity of these complexes towards H₂O₂. Reactions such as this are of great interest due to the important role of copper-based complexes in biological systems. Our research has been conducted to add to the base of knowledge regarding the efforts of other researchers to investigate copper complexes that exhibit similar reactivity as copper-based proteins towards dioxygen. The copper complex chosen for this study contained a tri-dentate Schiff base adduct which, when complexed with an imidazole derivative, limited the manner in which peroxo adducts could bind while providing distinct spectral peaks which were used to conduct kinetic studies. Our results indicate a reaction mechanism by which the role of the complexed copper (II) ion is to activate the peroxo adduct for decomposition through reactions with other peroxide molecules, dioxygen, and water.