Reactivity of Fe3(CO)12 towards thiols containing an α,β-unsaturated ketone system

The unsaturated derivatives [Fe-2(CO)(6)(mu-S2C=CHC(O)C6H4X)] (X = F, OMe) have been isolated by reaction of [(HS)(2)C = CHC(O)C6H4X] (X = F, OMe) with Fe-3(CO)(12) in dried THF. Addition of Fe-2(CO)(9) to a solution of [Fe-2(CO)(6)(mu-S2C = CHC(O)C6H4OMe)] affords [Fe(CO)(4){mu-(OMe)C6H4C(O)CH = C(S)(2)Fe-2(CO)(6)}]. The new compounds have been characterised by analytical and spectroscopic data and the crystal structure of [Fe-2(CO)(6)(mu-S2C = CHC(O)C6H4F)] has been solved by X-ray diffraction. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.