Electronic Structure of an Iron-Porphyrin-Nitrene Complex

Middle and late transition metal imido complexes (which may also be viewed as metal-nitrene adducts) are rather rare, especially for square-pyramidal and octahedral coordination geometries. However, an iron(II) porphyrin aminonitrene adduct, denoted here as Fe(Por)(NN), has been known for almost a quarter of a century. Unlike the corresponding S = 1 oxene and S = 0 carbene adducts, Fe(Por)(NN) exhibits an S = 2 ground state. DFT calculations reported herein provide a molecular orbital description of this unusual species as well as a rationale for its S = 2 ground state. The electronic configuration of Fe(Por)(NN) may be described as d(pi) (2)d(xy) (1)d(z2) (1)d(x2-y2) (1)d(pi') (1), where the z direction corresponds to the Fe-NN axis. The stability and double occupancy of one of the d(pi) orbitals may be attributed to a pi-backbonding interaction with the N-N pi(star) orbital. The weak sigma-donor ability of the aminonitrene ligand results in a relatively low-energy d(z2) orbital and an overall d(z2) orbital splitting pattern that engenders a high-spin ground state.