There has been considerable research
interest in the ligand nature
of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). In this work, two six-coordinate
NHC iron porphyrin complexes [FeII(TTP)(1,3-Me2Imd)2] (TTP = tetratolylporphyrin, 1,3-Me2Imd
= 1,3-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene) and [FeIII(TDCPP)(1,3-Me2Imd)2]ClO4 (TDCPP = 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(2,6-dichlorophenyl)porphyrin)
are reported. Single-crystal X-ray characterizations demonstrate that
both complexes have strongly ruffled conformations and relatively
perpendicular ligand orientations which are forced by the sterically
bulky 1,3-Me2Imd NHC ligands. Multitemperature (4.2–300
K) and high magnetic field (0–9 T) Mössbauer and low-temperature
(4.0 K) EPR spectroscopies definitely confirmed the low-spin states
of [FeII(TTP)(1,3-Me2Imd)2] (S = 0) and [FeIII(TDCPP)(1,3-Me2Imd)2]ClO4 (S = 1/2). The similarity
of 1,3-Me2Imd and imidazole, as well as the well-established
correlations between the ligand nature and spectroscopic characteristics
of [FeII,III(Porph)(L)2]0,+ (Porph:
porphyrin; L: planar base ligand) species, allowed direct comparisons
between the pair of ligands which revealed for the first time that
NHC has a stronger π-acceptor ability than imidazoles, in addition
to its very strong σ-donation.