Complexes One-Pot Syntheses from Pentacarbonyliron

rrfl/is-TRICARBONYLBIS(PHOSPHINE)IRON(0) COMPLEXES ONE-POT SYNTHESES FROM PENTACARBONYLIRON 

Most of the preparations of molecular coordination compounds of iron published in Inorganic Syntheses or elsewhere require the readily available pentacarbonyliron or derivatives thereof. However, pentacarbonyliron is a rather stable compound that needs either thermal or photochemical activation to react. We describe here the selective, high-yield, one-pot synthesis of the title complexes from potassium tetracarbonylhydridoferrate(l — ), easily generated from pentacarbonyliron, a method that can be referred to as a nucleophilic activation of pentacarbonyliron.  

The procedure we describe here involves the simple reaction of a stoichiometric quantity of a phosphine (2 equiv only) with K[FeH(CO)4] in EtOH to get the Fe(CO)3L2 complexes in high yields and in a pure state without cumbersome treatments.  

---