Treatment of the iron sulfides (mu-S-x)[CpFe(CO)(2)](2) with 3-ClCOC6H4SO2Cl gave the novel organoiron thiocarboxylate complex CpFe(CO)(2)SCO-3-C6H4SO2Cl which contains a free sulfonyl chloride group. This complex reacts with nucleophiles such as R2NH, ArOH and RSH to give stable complexes CpFe(CO)(2)SCO-3-C6H4SO2NR2, CpFe(CO)(2)SCO-3-C6H4SO2OAr, and CpFe(CO)(2)SCO-3-C6H4SO2SR, respectively. The crystal structure of CpFe(CO)(2)SCO-3-C6H4SO2N(CH3)CH2Ph has been determined: space group: P2(1)/c, a = 17.9594(5), b = 9.2395(2), c = 13.4341(4) Angstrom,beta = 95.403(2)degrees, V = 2219.26(10) Angstrom(3) and Z = 4. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.