Novel trigonal prismatic iron complexes of expanded hexadentate Jäger type ligands: synthesis and X-ray analysis

The mononuclear iron complexes Fe2a and Fe2b of expanded hexadentate Jäger type ligands H32a and H32b with [N4O2]-donorset were synthesized via reaction of the free ligands with iron(II) acetate. The identity of both compounds was proven by mass spectrometry and micro analysis. Furthermore crystals suitable for X-ray structure determination were obtained in case of Fe2a. The X-ray investigation reveals that this compound is a hexacoordinated iron complex with a rather rare trigonal prismatic geometry of the coordination polyeder: in this complex all six coordination sites are occupied by the donor atoms of the ligand exclusively, which was observed for the first time in iron complexes of Jäger type ligands. Electronic properties of Fe2b were characterized using EPR-spectroscopy and temperature dependent susceptibility measurements, indicating a high-spin Fe(III) complex.