Abstract
The new tridentate ligand, SMeNHS = 2-(2-methylthiophenyl)benzothiazolidine, prepared in a single step from commercial precursors in excellent yield, undergoes ring-opening on treatment with Fe(OTf)(2) in the presence of base affording a trinuclear iron complex, [Fe-3(mu(2)-SMeNS-)(4)](OTf)(2) (1) which is fully characterized by structural and spectroscopic methods. X-ray structural data reveal that 1 contains four SMeNS- ligands meridionally bound to two pseudooctahedral iron centers each bridged by two thiolates to a distorted tetrahedral central iron. The combined spectroscopic (UV-vis, Mossbauer, NMR), magnetic (solution and solid state), and computational (DFT) studies indicate that 1 includes a central, high-spin Fe(II) (S = 2) with two low-spin (S = 0) peripheral Fe(II) centers. Complex 1 reacts with excess PMePh2, CNxylyl (2,6-dimethylphenyl isocyanide), and P(OMe)(3) in CH3CN to form diamagnetic, thiolate-bridged, dinuclear Fe(II) complexes {[Fe(mu-SMeNS-)L-2](2)}(OTf)(2) (2-4). These complexes are characterized by elemental analysis; H-1 NMR, IR, UV-vis, and Mossbauer spectroscopy; and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Interestingly, addition of excess P(OMe)(3) to complex 1 in CH2Cl2 produces primarily the diamagnetic, mononuclear Fe(II) complex, {Fe(SMeNS-)[P(OMe)(3)](3)}(OTf) (5).