Magnetic Circular Dichroism and Density Functional Theory Studies of Iron(II)-Pincer Complexes: Insight into Electronic Structure and Bonding Effects of Pincer N-Heterocyclic Carbene Moieties

Iron complexes containing pincer ligands that incorporate N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) moieties are of significant interest in organometallic catalysis in order to generate more oxidatively robust complexes that may exhibit novel catalytic properties. In order to define the effect that introducing NHC moieties into pincer ligands has on electronic structure and bonding in iron(II)-pincer complexes, MCD and DFT studies of ((iPr)CDA)FeBr2, ((PDI)-P-iPr)FeBr2, and ((CNC)-C-iPr)FeBr2 were performed. These studies quantify the electronic structures and bonding interactions as a function of pincer ligand variation. They also demonstrate that the observed ligand fields (and, hence, spin states) directly correlate to the increased Fe-C bonding and pincer-donating abilities that result from introducing NHC moieties into the pincer ligand. However, the net donor abilities of the pincers and the strength of the Fe-pincer interaction do not directly correlate to the number of NHC moieties present, but instead are determined to be due to differences in Fe-C and overall Fe-pincer bonding as a result of the position of the NHC moieties in the pincer ligand and the overall geometric constraints of the pincer architecture.