Catalysts which functionally mimic the bacterial dimanganese catalase enzymes have been synthesized and their structure, electrochemical, redox, and EPR spectra have been compared to the enzyme. These compounds are formulated as [LMn(2)(II,II)X]Y-2,mu-X=CH3CO2, ClCH2CO2; Y=ClO4, BPh(4), CH3CO2, possessing a bridging mu-alkoxide from the ligand, HL = N,N,N’N’-tetrakis(2-methylenebenzimidazole)-1,3-diaminopropan-2-ol. An X-ray diffraction structure of [LMn(2)(CH3CO2)(butanol)](ClO4)(2).H2O, in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/c, confirmed the anticipated N6O septadentate coordination of the HL ligand, the bridging mu-acetate, and revealed both five- and six-coordinate Mn ions; the latter arising from a butanol solvent molecule. This contrasts with the six-coordinate Mn ions observed for the mu-Cl and mu-OH derivatives, LMn(2)Cl(3) and LMn(2)(OH)Br-2 (Mathur et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1987, 109, 5227-5232). Like the enzyme, three electrons can be removed from these complexes to form four oxidation states ranging from Mn-2(II,II) to Mn-2(III,IV). Three of these have been characterized by EPR and found to possess electronic ground states, Mn-III electron orbital configurations, Mn-55 hyperfine parameters, and Heisenberg exchange interactions analogous to those observed in the enzyme. For the mu-carboxylate derivatives electrochemistry reveals the initial oxidation process involves loss of two electrons at 0.81-0.86 V, forming Mn-2(III,III), followed by dismutation to yield a Mn-2(II,III) and Mn-2(III,IV) species. By contrast, the mu-Cl and mu-OH derivatives oxidize by an initial one-electron process (0.49-0.54 V). For the mu-carboxylate derivatives chemical oxidation with Pb(OAc)(4) also reveals an initial two-electron oxidation to a Mn-2(III,III) species, which dismutates to form both Mn-2(II,III) and Mn-2(III,IV) species. The two Mn-2(II,III) species formed by these methods exhibit Mn-55 hyperfine fields differing in magnitude by 9% (150 G), implying different Mn coordination environments induced by the electrolyte. The different ligand coordination observed in the enzyme (predominantly oxo and carboxylato) appears to be responsible for stabilization of the MnCat(III,III) oxidation state as the resting state.