A sterically accessible tert-butyl-substituted dipyrrinato di-iron(II) complex [(tBuL)FeCl]2 possessing two bridging chloride atoms was synthesized from the previously reported solvento adduct. Upon treatment with aryl azides, the formation of high-spin FeIII species was confirmed by 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. Crystallographic characterization revealed two possible oxidation products: (1) a terminal iron iminyl from aryl azides bearing ortho isopropyl substituents, (tBuL)FeCl(•NC6H3-2,6-iPr2); or (2) a bridging di-iron imido arising from reaction with 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)aryl azide, [(tBuL)FeCl]2(μ-NC6H3-3,5-(CF3)2). Similar to the previously reported (ArL)FeCl(•NC6H4-4-tBu), the monomeric iron imido is best described as a high-spin FeIII antiferromagnetically coupled to an iminyl radical, affording an S = 2 spin state as confirmed by SQUID magnetometry. The di-iron imido possesses an S = 0 ground state, arising from two high-spin FeIII centers weakly antiferromagnetically coupled through the bridging imido ligand. The terminal iron iminyl complex undergoes facile decomposition via intra- or intermolecular hydrogen-atom abstraction (HAA) from an imido aryl ortho isopropyl group, or from 1,4-cyclohexadiene, respectively. The bridging di-iron imido is a competent N-group transfer reagent to cyclic internal olefins as well as styrene. Although solid-state magnetometry indicates an antiferromagnetic interaction between the two iron centers (J = −108.7 cm−1) in [(tBuL)FeCl]2(μ-NC6H3-3,5-(CF3)2), we demonstrate that in solution the bridging imido can facilitate HAA as well as dissociate into a terminal iminyl species, which then can promote HAA. In situ monitoring reveals the di-iron bridging imido is a catalytically competent intermediate, one of several iron complexes observed in the amination of C–H bond substrates or styrene aziridination.

Terminal copper-nitrenoid complexes have inspired interest in their fundamental bonding structures as well as their putative intermediacy in catalytic nitrene-transfer reactions. Here, we report that aryl azides react with a copper(I) dinitrogen complex bearing a sterically encumbered dipyrrin ligand to produce terminal copper nitrene complexes with near-linear, short copper–nitrenoid bonds [1.745(2) to 1.759(2) angstroms]. X-ray absorption spectroscopy and quantum chemistry calculations reveal a predominantly triplet nitrene adduct bound to copper(I), as opposed to copper(II) or copper(III) assignments, indicating the absence of a copper−nitrogen multiple-bond character. Employing electron-deficient aryl azides renders the copper nitrene species competent for alkane amination and alkene aziridination, lending further credence to the intermediacy of this species in proposed nitrene-transfer mechanisms.

Reduction of previously reported iminyl radical (ArL)FeCl(•N(C6H4-p-tBu)) (2) with potassium graphite furnished the corresponding high-spin (S = 5/2) imido (ArL)Fe(N(C6H4-p-tBu)) (3) (ArL = 5-mesityl-1,9-(2,4,6-Ph3C6H2)dipyrrin). Oxidation of the three-coordinate imido (ArL)Fe(NAd) (5) with chlorotriphenylmethane afforded (ArL)FeCl(•NAd) (6) with concomitant expulsion of Ph3C-(C6H5)CPh2. The respective aryl/alkyl imido/iminyl pairs (3, 2; 5, 6) have been characterized by EPR, zero-field 57Fe Mössbauer, magnetometry, single crystal X-ray diffraction, XAS, and EXAFS for 6. The high-spin (S = 5/2) imidos exhibit characteristically short Fe–N bonds (3: 1.708(4) Å; 5: 1.674(11) Å), whereas the corresponding iminyls exhibit elongated Fe–N bonds (2: 1.768(2) Å; 6: 1.761(6) Å). Comparison of the pre-edge absorption feature (1s → 3d) in the X-ray absorption spectra reveals that the four imido/iminyl complexes share a common iron oxidation level consistent with a ferric formulation (3: 7111.5 eV, 2: 7111.5 eV; 5: 7112.2 eV, 6: 7112.4 eV) as compared with a ferrous amine adduct (ArL)FeCl(NH2Ad) (7: 7110.3 eV). N K-edge X-ray absorption spectra reveal a common low-energy absorption present only for the iminyl species 2 (394.5 eV) and 6 (394.8 eV) that was assigned as a N 1s promotion into a N-localized, singly occupied iminyl orbital. Kinetic analysis of the reaction between the respective iron imido and iminyl complexes with toluene yielded the following activation parameters: Ea (kcal/mol) 3: 12.1, 2: 9.2; 5: 11.5, 6: 7.1. The attenuation of the Fe–N bond interaction on oxidation from an imido to an iminyl complex leads to a reduced enthalpic barrier [Δ(ΔH‡) ≈ 5 kcal/mol]; the alkyl iminyl 6 has a reduced enthalpic barrier (1.84 kcal/mol) as compared with the aryl iminyl 2 (3.84 kcal/mol), consistent with iminyl radical delocalization into the aryl substituent in 2 as compared with 6.

Biological and heterogenous catalysts for the electrochemical CO2 Reduction Reaction (CO2RR) often exhibit a high degree of electronic delocalization that serves to minimize overpotential and maximize selectivity over the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, we report a molecular iron(II) system that captures this design concept in a homogeneous setting through the use of a redox non-innocent terpyridine-based pentapyridine ligand (tpyPY2Me). As a result of strong metal-ligand exchange coupling between the Fe(II) center and ligand, [Fe(tpyPY2Me)] 2+ exhibits redox behavior at potentials 640 mV more positive than the isostructural [Zn(tpyPY2Me)] 2+ analog containing the redox-inactive Zn(II) ion. This shift in redox potential is attributed to the requirement for both an open-shell metal ion and a redox non-innocent ligand. The metalligand cooperativity in [Fe(tpyPY2Me)] 2+ drives the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to CO at low overpotentials with high selectivity for CO2RR (> 90%) and turnover frequencies of 100,000 s -1 with no degradation over 20 h. The decrease in the thermodynamic barrier engendered by this coupling also enables homogeneous CO2 reduction catalysis in water without compromising selectivity or rates. Synthesis of the two-electron reduction product, [Fe(tpyPY2Me)] 0 , and characterization by X-ray crystallography, Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), variable temperature NMR, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, support assignment of an open-shell singlet electronic structure that maintains a formal Fe(II) oxidation state with a doubly-reduced ligand system. This work provides a starting point for the design of systems that exploit metal-ligand cooperativity for electrocatalysis where the electrochemical potential of redox non-innocent ligands can be tuned through secondary metal-dependent interactions.

The dipyrrinato iron catalyst reacts with organic azides to generate a reactive, high-spin imido radical