The Diiron Dance | Dr. Robotmik | Dance Your PhD Thesis 2020-21 Submission - Chemistry

This video is an entry to the 2020-21 “Dance Your PhD Thesis“ contest (). Dancer/PhD: Mik Minier (Lippard Lab, MIT, Chemistry, 2015) COVID-19: All COVID-19 guidelines were met in the production of this video. The whole video was created by a single participant. All scenes except one took place within the creator’s residential establishment and the single outdoor scene was done on private property in isolation with a mask. Science: Methane monooxygenase is an enzyme capable of oxidizing methane to methanol under mild conditions. Its mechanism of action utilizes a diiron active site that is able to react with dioxygen to form an elusive diiron(IV) reactive intermediate. One approach to elucidating the special iron chemistry involved in the enzyme is to attempt to reproduce the structural components of the metal complex using specialized organic ligands. These “biomimetic“ ligands are modifiable, allowing relationships between structure and reactivity of dii