N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands as Cyanide Mimics in Diiron Models of the All-Iron Hydrogenase Active Site

Abstract

The reaction of [Fe 2 (μ-S(CH 2 ) 3 S)(CO) 6 ] with an excess of 1,3-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene (L Me ) affords the mono- and disubstituted species [Fe 2 (μ-S(CH 2 ) 3 S)(CO) 5 (L Me )] ( 1 ) and [Fe 2 (μ-S(CH 2 ) 3 S)(CO) 4 (L Me ) 2 ] ( 2 ), respectively. The structures of 1 and 2 have been determined by X-ray crystallography.