Stepwise synthesis of tropone from ethyne and carbon monoxide at a di-iron centre: crystal structure of [Fe2(CO)4(µ-C6H6CO)(µ-Ph2PCH2PPh2)]
Abstract
Treatment of [Fe2(CO)7(µ-dppm)](dppm = Ph2PCH2PPh2) with ethyne under u.v. irradiation results in the stepwise linking of one, two, and three molecules of ethyne with carbon monoxide, yielding [Fe2(CO)5(µ-C2H2CO)(µ-dppm)], [Fe2(CO)4(µ-C4H4CO)(µ-dppm)], and the tropone complex [Fe2(CO)4(µ-C6H6CO)(µ-dppm)]; the structure of the latter has been establised by X-ray diffraction.