Triphos-Fe dinitrogen and dinitrogen-hydride complexes: relevance to catalytic N2 reductions

Anthony Cavaillé; Benjamin Joyeux; Nathalie Saffon-Merceron; Noel Nebra; Marie Fustier-Boutignon; Nicolas Mézailles

doi:10.1039/c8cc07466f

Triphos-Fe dinitrogen and dinitrogen-hydride complexes: relevance to catalytic N₂ reductions

Chem Commun (Camb). 2018 Oct 28;54(84):11953-11956. doi: 10.1039/c8cc07466f. Epub 2018 Oct 5.

Authors

Anthony Cavaillé¹, Benjamin Joyeux¹, Nathalie Saffon-Merceron², Noel Nebra¹, Marie Fustier-Boutignon¹, Nicolas Mézailles¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratoire Hétérochimie Fondamentale et Appliquée, Université Paul Sabatier, CNRS, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse, France. mezailles@chimie.ups-tlse.fr.
² Institut de Chimie de Toulouse ICT-FR2599, Université Paul Sabatier, CNRS, 31062 Toulouse Cedex, France.

PMID: 30288508
DOI: 10.1039/c8cc07466f

Abstract

The two electron reduction of iron complexes [(P^RP₂^Cy)Fe(Cl)₂] (R = Ph or tBu) 2a-b afforded complexes [(P^RP₂^Cy)Fe(N₂)₂] 4a-b. Protonation of 4a at the metal center and subsequent reduction to Fe(i)-H species lead to complex [(P^PhP₂^Cy)Fe(N₂)(H)₂] 6avia a spontaneous disproportionation reaction. Complex 4a behaves as one of the most efficient monometallic Fe-catalysts reported to date for N₂-to-N(SiMe₃)₃ functionalization under atmospheric pressure.