N-Donor Competition in Iron Bis(chelate) Bis(pyrazolyl)pyridinylmethane Complexes

Abstract

Abstract We report on the synthesis and structural characterisation of the bis(chelate) bis(pyrazolyl) pyridinylmethane iron(II) complexes [Fe{HC(Pz)2(Py)}2][CF3CO2]2, [Fe{HC(3-iPrPz)(5- iPrPz)(Py)}2][CF3SO3]2 and [Fe{HC(3-iPrPz)(5-iPrPz)(Py)}2][FeBr4]Br·2C4H8O. During the synthesis of the latter ones, an isomerisation of the ligand is observed: the pyrazolyl substituent formally moves from the 3 to the 5 position. Since the donor competition between pyrazolyl and pyridinyl moieties is important for the coordination properties, we also studied the donor properties by density functional theory and natural bond orbital analysis (NBO). As a result, the pyridinyl donor is generally weaker than the pyrazolyl donor, but the pyrazolyl donor is heavily influenced by the alkyl substitution pattern. To confirm the low-spin state of the complexes, magnetic susceptibility measurements have been performed