Efficient carbene transfer reactivity mediated by Fe(ii) complexes supported by bulky alkoxides†
Richard L.
Lord 
*b
and
Stanislav
Groysman
*a
*b
and
Stanislav
Groysman
*a
Abstract
Herein we describe the stoichiometric and catalytic carbene-transfer reactivity of iron(II) alkoxide complexes with iodonium ylide precursors. Treatment of PhIC(CO2Me)2 with styrene in the presence of catalytic amounts of several different Fe(OR)2(THF)2 precursors results in efficient cyclopropanation for a variety of styrenes. Computational and reactivity studies suggest a novel remote metallocarbene/vinyl radical intermediate, Fe(OR)2(κ2-(O![[double bond, length half m-dash]](https://www.rsc.org/images/entities/char_e006.gif)
C(OMe))2C), which could be responsible for the reactive nature of the catalyst.
- This article is part of the themed collection: Small Molecule Transformations of Energy Relevance
Please wait while we load your content...
