Carboranylamidinates of di- and trivalent iron

For the first time, carboranylamidinates of a transition metal in two different oxidation states have been prepared. The iron carboranylamidinates [o-C2B10H10C(NHiPr)(= NiPr)-κ2C,N]2FeIIICl (3) and [o-C2B10H10C(NHiPr)(= NiPr)-κ2C,N]2FeII (4) were simultaneously formed in low yields upon treatment of anhydrous FeCl3 with 2 equiv. of [o-C2B10H10C(NHiPr)(= NiPr)-κ2C,N]Li(DME) (2) in THF solution. Both products were structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.