Treatment of chlorotriaryl derivatives 3a and 3d or fluorotriaryl derivatives 3b and 3e with potassium diisopropylamide afforded alkyl-shifted phenazine derivatives 5a/5b, rather than the expected 9-membered triaza orthocyclophane 2a. The phenazine derivatives were isolated in 78-98% yield depending on the halogen and alkyl group present. In the absence of the halogen (chloro or fluoro), the apparent alkyl shift proceeds more slowly and cannot proceed via, the intermediacy of the aryne

Treatment of the ortho-triazacyclophane 1,4-dimethyltribenzo[b,e,h][1,4,7]triazacyclonona-2,5,8-triene [(C6H5)3(NH)(NCH3)2, L1] with Fe[N(SiMe3)2]2 yields the dimeric iron(II) complex bis(μ-1,4-dimethyltribenzo[b,e,h][1,4,7]triazacyclonona-2,5,8-trien-7-ido)bis[(μ-1,4-dimethyltribenzo[b,e,h][1,4,7]triazacyclonona-2,5,8-trien-7-ido)iron(II)], [Fe(C20H18N3)4] or Fe2(L1)4 (9). Dissolution of 9 in tetrahydrofuran (THF) results in solvation by two THF ligands and the formation of a simpler monoiron complex, namely bis(μ-1,4-dimethyltribenzo[b,e,h][1,4,7]triazacyclonona-2,5,8-trien-7-ido-κN 7)bis(tetrahydrofuran-κO)iron(II), [Fe(C20H18N3)2(C4H8O)2] or (L1)2Fe(THF)2 (10). The reaction is reversible and 10 reverts in vacuo to diiron complex 9. In the structures of both 9 and 10, the monoanionic triazacyclophane ligand L1− is observed in only the less-symmetric saddle conformation. No bowl-shaped crown conformers are observed in the solid state, thus preventing chelating κ3-coordination to the metal as had been proposed earlier based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Instead, the L1− ligands are bound in either a η2-chelating fashion through the amide and one amine donor (for one of the four ligands of 9), or solely through their amide N atoms in an even simpler monodentate η1-coordination mode. Density functional calculations on dimer 9 revealed nearly full cationic charges on each Fe atom and no bonding interaction between the two metal centers, consistent with the relatively long Fe...Fe distance of 2.912 (1) Å observed in the solid state.