Abstract
The biological importance of phosphates and its derivatives are very well known. The stability of DNA phosphate diester backbone towards hydrolytic cleavage has been a major challenge. Enzymes cleave DNA by catalyzing the hydrolysis of the phosphate diester bond. Recently has been growing interest in the non-enzymatic hydrolysis and many metal complexes have been reported as catalysts. Here we report macrocyclic complex, Ni([12]aneN4)2+ promoted phosphate diesters hydrolysis. The experimental results suggest that preequilibrium is first established by removal of a proton to form metal-hydroxide complex,followed by intramolecular attack by the Ni(II)-hydroxide complex on the coordinated phosphate diester.