Transition Met Chem
(vs), 1,941 (vs), 1,930 (vs), 1,905 (vs). 1H NMR
(400 MHz, CDCl3, ppm): 1.777–1.927 (m, 3H, 2 SCHaHe,
PhCH), 2.414 (m, 2H, 2 SCHaHe), 6.152 (d, 2H, 2 = CH,
3J = 2.8 Hz), 7.033–7.867 (m, 25H, PhH). 13C NMR
(400 MHz, CDCl3, ppm): 207.8 (s, FeCO), 132.8, 132.7,
130.4, 130.0, 128.7, 128.5, 128.3, 126.4 (s, PhC), 48.7 (s,
CH), 31.1 (s, SCH2). 31P NMR (161.9 MHz, CDCl3, 85 %
H3PO4, ppm): 90 (s, 92 %, basal–apical), 78 (s, 8 %,
basal–basal). Anal. Calc. for C39H32Fe2O4P2S2: C, 58.4; H,
4.0. Found: C, 58.6; H, 3.8 %.
for complex 2 is consistent with substitution of the two
carbonyls with diphosphine in a bridging coordination
geometry [27]. In the 1H NMR spectra, compared with the
chemical shifts of the propanedithiolate bridge protons of
the precursor complex [l-(SCH2)2CHC6H5]Fe2(CO)6,
those of complex 1 showed upfield shifts, whereas those of
complex 2 were little changed. These observations imply
that coordination of phosphine ligands not only increases
the electron density of the diiron centers, but also indirectly
affects other ligands depending on the nature of the coor-
dination sphere. The upfield shift signals of the n-Pr pro-
tons in complex 2 are due to the shielding effect of the
benzene rings [28]. The 13C NMR spectra showed weak
resonances from the carbonyl carbon atoms at ca. 210 ppm,
strong olefin carbon signals in the range of 126–148 ppm
and alkane carbon signals in the range of 11–54 ppm. The
31P NMR spectra showed two singlets at 90 and 78 ppm for
the phosphorus atoms of the cis-dppv ligand in complex 1
with a ratio of ca. 92:8, corresponding to apical–basal and
basal–basal chelating coordination patterns, whereas that of
complex 2 displayed one singlet at 119 ppm, consistent
with symmetrical coordination of the two nitrogen-binding
phosphine atoms to two iron atoms in a basal–basal coor-
dination manner.
Synthesis of complex 2
A
xylene (15 mL) solution of [l-(SCH2)2CHC6H5]
Fe2(CO)6 (0.143 g, 0.31 mmol) and (PPh2)2N-Pr-
n (0.133 g, 0.31 mmol) was refluxed for 3 h. After
removing the solvent under reduced pressure, the crude
product was purified by chromatography on silica gel using
CH2Cl2/petroleum ether (v/v = 1:1) as eluent. Complex 2
was obtained as a red solid (0.077 g, 30 %). IR (KBr disk,
1
cm-1): mC:O 1,994 (vs), 1,961 (vs), 1,924 (vs). H NMR
(400 MHz, CDCl3, ppm): 0.053 (s, 3H, NCH2CH2CH3),
0.292 (m, 2H, NCH2CH2CH3), 1.803 (s, 2H, NCH2CH2-
CH3), 2.529–2.677 (m, 5H, SCH2CHCH2S), 7.079–7.718
(m, 25H, PhH). 13C NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, ppm): 216.1
(s, FeCO), 148.0, 133.2, 132.3, 132.0, 130.4, 128.6, 128.0,
127.7, 127.0 (s, PhC), 54.4, 53.5, 50.1, 31.6, 22.9, 11.0 (s,
CH, CH2, CH3). 31P NMR (161.9 MHz, CDCl3, 85 %
H3PO4, ppm): 119 (s). Anal. Calc. for C40H37Fe2NO4P2S2:
C, 57.6; H, 4.5, N, 1.7. Found: C, 57.5; H, 4.2, N, 1.9 %.
X-ray crystal structures
The molecular structures of both complexes were unam-
biguously confirmed by X-ray crystallography (Figs. 1, 2),
and crystal data, selected bond lengths and angles are listed
in Tables 1 and 2. Both complexes each have a butterfly
[2Fe2S] core in which their two iron atoms are bridged by a
2-phenyl-1, 3-propanedithiolate ligand. One of the two Fe
atoms and the propanedithiolate bridge form a six-mem-
bered ring in chair conformation, with the phenyl group in
an equatorial position. The Fe–Fe bond length of complex
Results and discussion
Synthesis and spectroscopic characterization
˚
1 (2.5517(5) A) is much longer than that of complex 2
˚
(2.4851(9) A) and close to those found in the reduced
As shown in Scheme 1, the reaction of the precursor
complex [l-(SCH2)2CHC6H5]Fe2(CO)6 with ca. 1 equiva-
lent of the decarbonylating agent Me3NOÁ2H2O followed
by addition of 1.1 equivalent of cis-dppv at room temper-
ature gave the chelated complex 1, while refluxing a xylene
solution of the precursor complex [l-(SCH2)2CHC6H5]
Fe2(CO)6 with 1 equiv of (Ph2P)2N-Pr-n yielded the
bridged complex 2. Compared with the IR absorption
bands of the terminal carbonyls of the precursor complex
(2,071, 2,022, 2,008, 1,970 cm-1), those of complexes 1
and 2 were considerably shifted by about 60–80 cm-1
toward lower energy. This is apparently due to two CO
ligands being replaced by stronger electron-donating
diphosphine ligands [26]. The biggest absorption band of
the terminal carbonyls at 2,014 cm-1 for complex 1 cor-
responds to substitution of the two carbonyls by the che-
lating diphosphine, while the band observed at 1,994 cm-1
active site of FeFe-hydrogenases [6]. The two phosphine
atoms of cis-dppv chelate one of the two iron atoms with an
apical–basal coordination geometry, whereas the two
phosphine atoms of (Ph2P)2N-Pr-n coordinate two iron
atoms with a bridging basal–basal manner. The bite angle
P2–Fe2–P1 is 87.83(5)° for complex 1, close to those of
[(l-SCH2)2]Fe2(CO)4(j2-dppv) [29, 30]. Two phosphine
atoms and two carbon atoms of cis-dppv ligand, and the
Fe2 atom in complex 1 constitute a five-membered ring
with dihedral angle of 15.2 (1)° between the plane (P2,
Fe2, P1) and the plane (P1, C26, C27), and a torsion angle
of 3.6 (8)° between P2 and P1. In the five-membered ring
of complex 2, the dihedral angle between planes (P1, N1,
P2) and (N1, P1, Fe1) is 10.8 (7)°, and four atoms, P2, P1,
Fe1 and Fe2, are almost co-planar.
123