Synthesis and structure of iron(III) complexes of amine-bis(phenolate) ligands

Abstract

The synthesis and structures of four new iron(III) amine-bis(phenolate) complexes are reported. Reaction of anhydrous FeCl3 with the diprotonated tridentate ligand isopropyl-N,N-bis(2-methylene-4-t-butyl-6-methylphenol) (H2L1) and NEt3 produces the trigonal bipyramidal iron(III) complex [NEt3H]+ [FeCl2L1]– (1). The reaction of FeBr3 with the sodium or lithium salts, Na2L1 and Li2L2, results in the formation of FeBr2L1H (2) and FeBr2L2H (3), tetrahedral iron(III) complexes possessing two bromide ligands and quaternized ammonium fragments. A trigonal bipyramidal FeIII hydroxido-bridged dimer, [Fe(μ-OH)L2]2 (4), was also isolated during the synthesis of 3. Single-crystal X-ray molecular structures have been determined for complexes 1–4 and H2L2.