Syntheses and properties of 2-azaallyl Iron(I) complexes via Csp3-H bond activation.

Three novel η 3 -2-azaallyl iron(I) complexes, [(2-PPh 2 )C 6 H 4 ](CH=N-CH)C 6 H 4 (4-R)]Fe(PMe 3 ) 2 ( 4 - 6 ) (R = H ( 4 ), Cl ( 5 ) and OMe ( 6 )), were prepared through the reactions of Schiff base preligands [(2-PPh 2 )C 6 H 4 ](CH=NCH 2 )C 6 H 4 (4-R)] ( 1 - 3 ) (R = H ( 1 ), Cl ( 2 ) and OMe ( 3 )) with Fe(PMe 3 ) 4 via sp 3 C-H bond activation under mild reaction conditions. Compared with the reported 2-azaallyl cobalt complexes, these are the first 2-azaallyl iron(I) complexes obtained via Csp 3 -H bond activation. Complex [(2-PPh 2 )C 6 H 4 ](CH=N-CH) (C 6 H 4 )FeBr(PMe 3 ) 2 ( 7 ) was obtained through the reaction of 4 with EtBr. The ligand replacement reaction of complex 4 with CO delivered the dicarbonyl iron(I) complex [(2-PPh 2 )C 6 H 4 ](CH-N=CH) (C 6 H 5 )Fe(CO) 2 (PMe 3 ) ( 8 ). The molecular structures of complexes 4 and 6 were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]