Virtual free ion magnetism and the absence of Jahn-Teller distortion in a linear two-coordinate complex of high-spin iron(II)

Electronic structure and reactivity of three-coordinate iron complexes

[Reaction: see text]. The identity and oxidation state of the metal in a coordination compound are typically thought to be the most important determinants of its reactivity. However, the coordination number (the number of bonds to the metal) can be equally influential. This Account describes iron complexes with a coordination number of only three, which differ greatly from iron complexes with octahedral (six-coordinate) geometries with respect to their magnetism, electronic structure, preference for ligands, and reactivity. Three-coordinate complexes with a trigonal-planar geometry are accessible using bulky, anionic, bidentate ligands (beta-diketiminates) that steer a monodentate ligand into the plane of their two nitrogen donors. This strategy has led to a variety of three-coordinate iron complexes in which iron is in the +1, +2, and +3 oxidation states. Systematic studies on the electronic structures of these complexes have been useful in interpreting their properties. The iron ions are generally high spin, with singly occupied orbitals available for pi interactions with ligands. Trends in sigma-bonding show that iron(II) complexes favor electronegative ligands (O, N donors) over electropositive ligands (hydride). The combination of electrostatic sigma-bonding and the availability of pi-interactions stabilizes iron(II) fluoride and oxo complexes. The same factors destabilize iron(II) hydride complexes, which are reactive enough to add the hydrogen atom to unsaturated organic molecules and to take part in radical reactions. Iron(I) complexes use strong pi-backbonding to transfer charge from iron into coordinated alkynes and N 2, whereas iron(III) accepts charge from a pi-donating imido ligand. Though the imidoiron(III) complex is stabilized by pi-bonding in the trigonal-planar geometry, addition of pyridine as a fourth donor weakens the pi-bonding, which enables abstraction of H atoms from hydrocarbons. The unusual bonding and reactivity patterns of three-coordinate iron compounds may lead to new catalysts for oxidation and reduction reactions and may be used by nature in transient intermediates of nitrogenase enzymes.

Mössbauer and computational study of an N2-bridged diiron diketiminate complex: parallel alignment of the iron spins by direct antiferromagnetic exchange with activated dinitrogen

This work reports Mössbauer and DFT studies of the diiron-N2 complex LMeFeNNFeLMe (L = beta-diketiminate), 1a. Complex 1a, formally diiron(I), has a system spin S = 3 with an isolated MS = +/-3 quasi-doublet as a ground state; the MS = +/-2 doublet is >100 cm-1 higher in energy. Complex 1a exhibits at 4.2 K a large, positive magnetic hyperfine field, Bint = +68.1 T, and an effective g value of 16 +/- 2 along the easy magnetization axis of the ground doublet; this value is significantly larger than the spin-only value (g = 12). These results have been rationalized by DFT calculations, which show that each Fe site donates significant electron density into the pi* orbitals of dinitrogen, resulting in a configuration best described as two high-spin FeII (Sa = Sb = 2) bridged by triplet N22- (Sc = 1). In this description the minority spin electron of each iron is accommodated by two nonbonding, closely spaced 3d orbitals, z2 and yz (z is perpendicular to the diketiminate planes, x is along the Fe...Fe vector). Spin-orbit coupling between these orbital states generates a large unquenched orbital momentum along the iron-iron vector. The S = 3 ground state of 1a results from strong antiferromagnetic direct exchange couplings of the Fe spins (Sa = Sb = 2) to the N22- spin (Sc = 1) and can be formulated as ((Sa,Sb)Sab = 4, Sc = 1), S = 3>; H = J(Sa + Sb).Sc with J approximately 3500 cm-1.

Low-Valent Low-Coordinated Manganese(I) Ion Dimer: A Temperature Dependent W-Band EPR Study

W-Band EPR spectra of [[HC(CMeNAr)(2)]Mn](2) (Ar = 2,6-(i)Pr(2)C(6)H(3)) have been measured at different temperatures. The spectra show a behavior which is typical for an antiferromagnetically coupled dimer with excited states populating upon increasing temperature. By following the intensity variation of the different features of the spectra with temperature, we attributed different groups of resonances to the S = 1, 2, and 3 states of the dimer. Their corresponding spin Hamiltonian parameters were derived from simulations. The zero-field-splitting parameters measured in this way were D(S=1) = 1.57 cm(-1) and E(S=1) = 0.064 cm(-1), D(S=2) = 0.266 cm(-1) and E(S=2) = 0.0045 cm(-1), and D(S=3) = 0.075 cm(-1) and E(S=3) = 0. On the basis of the molecular structure of the system, we could estimate that zero-field splitting (ZFS) is the result of anisotropic exchange and single-ion anisotropic contributions of similar magnitude (|D| approximately 0.2 cm(-1)). These results allow a deeper insight into the electronic structure of the Mn(I) centers in low-coordination environments, further supporting the electronic structure of Mn(I) to be 4s(1)3d(5), as previously indicated by DFT calculations.

Mössbauer, electron paramagnetic resonance, and crystallographic characterization of a high-spin Fe(I) diketiminate complex with orbital degeneracy

The synthesis and X-ray structure of the low-coordinate, high-spin Fe(I) compound LFe(HCCPh) (L = HC(C[tBu]N[2,6-diisopropylphenyl])2]-), 1, are reported. Low-temperature Mössbauer and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies reveal that the electronic ground state is a Kramers doublet with uniaxial magnetic properties (effective g values g(x) = 8.9, 0 < g(y), g(z) < 0.3) that is well isolated from the excited states. The observation of a large and positive magnetic hyperfine field, B(int) = +68.8(3) T, demonstrates that the orbital angular moment is essentially unquenched along one spatial direction. Relaxation rates obtained from variable-temperature Mössbauer spectra were fit to an Orbach process, yielding delta = 130-190 cm(-1) for the energy gap ("zero-field splitting") between the two Kramers doublets of the S = 3/2 multiplet. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT calculations give insight into the electronic structures of the ground and excited states. The oxidation state of the iron and the bond order of the phenylacetylene ligand in complex 1 are analyzed using DFT, showing a substantial back-bonding interaction. Spin-orbit coupling acting in the subspace of quasi-degenerate z2 and yz orbitals provides a consistent description of both the zero-field splitting and magnetic hyperfine parameters that fits the EPR and Mössbauer data for 1. Interestingly, the spin-orbit coupling involves the same two orbitals (z2, yz) as in the analogous three-coordinate Fe(II) compounds, because back-bonding significantly lowers the energy of the xy orbital, making it the lowest doubly occupied d orbital. Despite the different oxidation state and different number of atoms in the first coordination sphere, the electronic structure of LFe(I)(HCCPh) can be interpreted similarly to that of three-coordinate Fe(II) diketiminate complexes, but with a substantial effect of back-bonding. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed Mössbauer and EPR study of a structurally characterized high-spin Fe(I) complex.

Analysis of the Uniaxial Magnetic Properties of High-Spin d6 Ions at Trigonal Prism and Linear Two-Coordinate Sites: Uniaxial Magnetic Properties of Ca3Co2O6 and Fe[C(SiMe3)3]2

It was shown that high-spin d(6) ions at trigonal prism and linear two coordinate sites have uniaxial magnetic properties by calculating their low-lying eigenstates under the influence of crystal field and spin-orbit coupling and then determining their g-factors for the parallel and perpendicular directions. On the basis of our theoretical findings, we interpreted the uniaxial magnetic properties of Ca(3)Co(2)O(6) with high-spin Co(3+) (d(6)) ions at the trigonal prism sites and those of Fe[C(SiMe(3))(3)](2) with high-spin Fe(2+) (d(6)) ions at linear two-coordinate sites, and discussed why compounds with high-spin d(6) ions at octahedral sites cannot have uniaxial magnetic properties.

Synthesis and Characterization of Quasi-Two-Coordinate Transition Metal Dithiolates M(SAr*)2 (M = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn; Ar* = C6H3-2,6(C6H2-2,4,6-Pri3)2

A sequence of first row transition metal(II) dithiolates M(SAr)(2) (M = Cr(1), Mn(2), Fe(3), Co(4), Ni(5) and Zn(6); Ar = C(6)H(3)-2,6-(C(6)H(2)-2,4,6-Pr(i)(3))(2)) has been synthesized and characterized. Compounds 1-5 were obtained by the reaction of two equiv of LiSAr with a metal dihalide, whereas 6 was obtained by treatment of ZnMe(2) with 2 equiv of HSAr. They were characterized by spectroscopy, magnetic measurements, and X-ray crystallography. The dithiolates 1, 2, and 4-6 possess linear or nearly linear SMS units with further interactions between M and two ipso carbons from C(6)H(2)-2,4,6-Pr(i)(3) rings. The iron species 3, however, has a bent geometry, two different Fe-S distances, and an interaction between iron and one ipso carbon of a flanking ring. The secondary M-C interactions vary in strength in the sequence Cr(2+) approximately Fe(2+) > Co(2+) approximately Ni(2+) > Mn(2+) approximately Zn(2+) such that the manganese and zinc compounds have essentially two coordination but the chromium and iron complexes are quasi four and three coordinate, respectively. The geometric distortions in the iron species 3 suggested that the structure represents the initial stage of a rearrangement into a sandwich structure involving metal-aryl ring coordination. The bent structure of 3 probably also precludes the observation of free ion magnetism of Fe(2+) recently reported for Fe{C(SiMe(3))(3)}(2). DFT calculations on the model compounds M(SPh)(2) (M = Cr-Ni) support the higher tendency of the iron species to distort its geometry.