Appending a Tris-imidazole Ligand with a Tyr²⁴⁴ Mimic on the Distal Face of Bromoacetamidoporphyrin

Bromoacetamidoporphyrin is a convenient synthon for the attachment of distal superstructures at room temperature in good yields. New models are presented that contain a tris-imidazole distal ligand set bound to the porphyrin in either a binary or trinary fashion. More importantly, one distal imidazole is cross-linked to a phenol mimicking Tyr²⁴⁴, making this model the closest structural analogue yet reported of the metal free cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) active site.