Nonradical mechanism for methane hydroxylation by iron-oxo complexes

A nonradical mechanism for methane hydroxylation by the bare FeO ⁺ complex, Fe-ZSM-5 zeolite, and soluble methane monooxygenase is proposed from quantum chemical calculations. This mechanism is applicable when a metal-oxo species is coordinatively unsaturated. Direct interaction between methane and a metal active center can form a weakly bound methane complex in the initial stages of this reaction. Subsequent C-H bond cleavage to form an intermediate with an HO-Fe-CH₃ moiety in a nonradical manner and recombination of the resultant OH and CH₃ ligands take place at a metal active center to form a final methanol complex. Thus, this is a nonradical, two-step reaction. The fact that methyl radical is 10-20 kcal/mol less stable than secondary and tertiary carbon radicals and benzyl radicals leads us to propose this mechanism.