LAUSR

The effects on the activity of thyroxine (T4) due to the chalcogen replacement in a series of peri‐substituted naphthalenes mimicking the catalytic function of deiodinase enzymes are computationally examined using density functional theory. In particular, T4 inner‐ring deiodination pathways assisted by naphthyl‐based models bearing two tellurols and a tellurol‐thiol pair in peri‐position are explored and compared with the analogous energy profiles for the naphthalene mimic having two selenols. The presence of a halogen bond (XB) in the intermediate formed in the first step and involved in the rate‐determining step of the reaction is assumed to facilitate the process increasing the rate of the reaction. The rate‐determining step calculated energy barrier heights allow rationalizing the experimentally observed superior catalytic activity of tellurium containing mimics. Charge displacement analysis is used to ascertain the presence and the role of the electron density charge transfer occurring in the rate‐determining step of the reaction, suggesting the incipient formation or presence of a XB interaction. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.