Catalytic Nitrene Homocoupling by an Iron(II) Bis(alkoxide) Complex: Bulking Up the Alkoxide Enables a Wider Range of Substrates and Provides Insight into the Reaction Mechanism

The reaction of HOR′ (OR′ = di-t-butyl-(3,5-diphenylphenyl)­methoxide) with an iron­(II) amide precursor forms the iron­(II) bis­(alkoxide) complex Fe­(OR′)2(THF)2 (2). 2 (5–10 mol %) serves as a catalyst for the conversion of aryl azides into the corresponding azoarenes. The highest yields are observed for aryl azides featuring two ortho substituents; other substitution patterns in the aryl azide precursor lead to moderate or low yields. The reaction of 2 with stoichiometric amounts (2 equiv) of the corresponding aryl azide shows the formation of azoarenes as the only organic products for the bulkier aryl azides (Ar = mesityl, 2,6-diethylphenyl). In contrast, formation of tetrazene complexes Fe­(OR′)2­(ArNNNNAr) (3–6) is observed for the less bulky aryl azides (Ar = phenyl, 4-methylphenyl, 4-methoxyphenyl, 3,5-dimethylphenyl). The electronic structure of selected tetrazene complexes was probed by spectroscopy (field-dependent 57Fe Mössbauer and high-frequency EPR) and density functional theory calculations. These studies revealed that Fe­(OR′)2­(ArNNNNAr) complexes contain high-spin (S = 5/2) iron­(III) centers exchange-coupled to tetrazene radical anions. Tetrazene complexes Fe­(OR′)2­(ArNNNNAr) produce the corresponding azoarenes (ArNNAr) upon heating. Treatment of a tetrazene complex Fe­(OR′)2­(ArNNNNAr) with a different azide (N3Ar′) produces all three possible products ArNNAr, ArNNAr′, and Ar′NNAr′. These experiments and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations exploring the reaction mechanism suggest that the tetrazene functionality serves as a masked form of the reactive iron mono­(imido) species.