The degradation of phosphate triesters is efficiently catalyzed by organophosphate hydrolases (OPH). While a number of recent studies have focused on optimizing the rate of hydrolysis observed with the native enzyme, no dinuclear complexes that mimic the function of OPH have been reported or investigated. Our present research focuses on the synthesis of dinuclear metal complexes and on the study of their catalytic abilities. An important aspect of this research concerns the investigation of the coordination chemistry of dinuclear ligands designed to hold two metal cations in well defined positions. The ability of the different complexes to catalyze the degradation of thiophosphate triester is presented. Out of several complexes studied, ortho-metallated Pd (II) complexes have been found to display the highest catalytic activity for the hydrolysis of parathion.
