Cleavage of an Aromatic C–C Bond in Ferrocene by Insertion of an Iridium Nitrido Nitrogen Atom

The intermolecular cleavage of C–C bonds is a rare event. Herein, we report on a late transition-metal terminal nitrido complex, which upon oxidation undergoes insertion of the nitrido nitrogen atom into the aromatic C–C bond of ferrocene. This reaction path was confirmed through 15N and deuterium isotope labeling experiments of the nitrido complex and ferrocenium, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry and UV/vis spectroscopy monitoring of the reaction revealed that oxidation is the initial step, yielding the tentative radical cationic nitrido complex, which is experimentally supported by extended X and Q-band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and ENDOR, UV/vis, vT 1H NMR, and vibrational spectroscopic data. Density functional theory (DFT) and multireference calculations of this highly reactive intermediate revealed an S = 1/2 ground state. The high reactivity can be traced to the increased electrophilicity in the oxidized complex. Based on high-level PNO-UCCSD­(T) calculations and UV/vis kinetic measurements, it is proposed that the reaction proceeds by initial electrophilic exo attack of the nitrido nitrogen atom at the cyclopentadienyl ring and consecutive ring expansion to a pyridine ring.