Redox-active ligands have become increasingly popular due to their ability to expand upon a metal’s reactivity. Formazanates – structurally similar to <i>β</i>-diketiminate ligands – have been shown to undergo facile ligand-centered redox processes when bound to redox-inert metals. In this work, we expand the use of formazanates to low-coordinate iron chemistry that demonstrates the interplay between metal and ligand redox chemistry, and shows the necessity of using a well-defined iron precursor. Through a combination of computations, electronic absorption, Mossbauer and X-ray absorption spectroscopies, we demonstrate that upon reduction the electronic structure is best described as iron(II) with a ligand-centered radical, which is in contrast with reported homoleptic formazanate iron complexes. Finally, the reactivity of the low coordinate complexes towards small molecules will be presented.

Redox-active formazanate ligands on iron: Going beyond electron reservoirs

254th National Meeting (2017)

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