Characterization of a high-spin non-heme {FeNO}(8) complex: implications for the reactivity of iron nitroxyl species in biology.

Stable but able: Chemical and electrochemical reduction of a five-coordinate high-spin non-heme {FeNO}(7) complex (see structure: N blue, Fe orange, and O red) generated the first stable high-spin (S=1) non-heme {FeNO}(8) model complex. The finding that the reduction is metal-centered and causes a decrease in FeNO covalency indicates that in biological systems, reduction activates stable non-heme FeNO units for further transformations.