Dinitrogen chemistry at five-coordinate iron centers

Abstract

Dinitrogen complexes of iron(I) are unusual and quite interesting in the context of a Chatt-type Fe(I)/Fe(IV) nitrogen fixation mechanism. Previous Fe(I)-N2 complexes with 3- or 4-coordinate Fe centers have been dinuclear with bridging dinitrogen ligands. We will present the synthesis of new monoanionic tetradentate ligands with [SiP3] donor sets and discuss their use in prepg. 5-coordinate iron complexes, including the first terminal dinitrogen complexes of iron(I). The release of dinitrogen redn. products from these Fe(I)-N2 species under protolytic conditions, as well as synthetic efforts to access Fe-N multiple bonds in these new trigonal bipyramidal environments, will also be discussed.