Hydrosilylation of an Iron(IV) Nitride Complex

The nitride ligand in iron­(IV) complex PhB­(MesIm)3FeN reacts with excess H3SiPh to afford PhB­(MesIm)3Fe­(μ-H)3(SiHPh) as the major product, which has been structurally and spectroscopically characterized. Bulkier silane HaSiPh2 provides iron­(II) amido complex PhB­(MesIm)3FeN­(H)­(SiHPh2) as the initial product of the reaction, with excess H2SiPh2 affording diamagnetic PhB­(MesIm)3Fe­(μ-H)3(SiPh2) as the major product. Unobserved iron­(II) hydride PhB­(MesIm)3Fe–H is implicated as an intermediate in this reaction, as suggested by the results of the reaction between iron­(II) amido PhB­(MesIm)3FeN­(H)tBu and H3SiPh, which provides PhB­(MesIm)3Fe­(H)­(μ-H)2(Si­(NHtBu)­Ph) as the sole product.