Iron Carbonyl Complexes of the Diastereomers of cis-(C6H5)(CH3)AsC(CF3)=C(CF3)As(CH3)(C6H5)

Abstract

The reaction of CF3≡CCF3 with (C6H5)(CH3)As—As(CH3)(C6H5) gave both cis- and trans-(C6H5)(CH3)AsC(CF3)=C(CF3)As(CH3)(C6H5), (L—L), in nearly equal amounts. When hexafluoroacetone is used as solvent the cis-isomer predominates (88%). The two diastereomers of the cis-adduct were isolated and reacted with Fe(CO)5 to afford (L—L)Fe(CO)3 and (L—L)Fe2(CO)6. Two of the three possible geometric isomers of the latter were obtained and their properties allowed assignment of the configuration of the starting ligands. Minor amounts of the symmetric and asymmetric forms of [Fe(CO)3As(CH3)(C6H5)]2 were also obtained through loss of fluorocarbon.