Ferrate nucleophilic substitution

Within the past 20 years, ferrates, i.e. anions possessing iron as the center atom, have found increasing application as nucleophilic complexes in substitution chemistry. In these reactions, the ferrate replaces the leaving group X in a first nucleophilic substitution event. A transfer of one ligand from the metal atom (i.e. a reductive elimination, path A, Scheme 7.2) or substitution of the metal atom via external attack of the nucleophile (path B) concludes this mechanistic scenario. However, the exact mechanism in ferrate-catalyzed nucleophilic substitutions is still under debate. Apart from the ionic mechanism, radical processes are also discussed in the literature. 

I ntroduction Substitutions involving ferrates as the catalytically active species might also encounter regio- and stereoselectivity problems (Scheme 7.15). The nucleophilic substitution of the leaving group can occur either in an SN2- [Equation (7.8),... 

Dimethylmalonate 75 coordinates to a Fe(CO)4 species, yielding a ferrate species 128. This coordinates the allylic substrate under decarbonylation and by nucleophilic attack at the double bond an allyliron-species 131 is generated which undergoes substitution of the ferrate 132 by a dimethylmalonte molecule 75. Although there is some evidence of this catalytically active ferrate 128, until now it could not be fully analytically characterized and therefore the structure presented above still remains a hypothesis. 

Complementary to the conjugate substitution reaction in which the nucleophile is transferred directly from the tetraalkyl ferrate to the allylic ligand, preformed low-valent Fe complexes can form reactive allyl-iron complexes via an SN2 -type mechanism (path C, Equations (7.8) and (7.9), Scheme 7.16], These complexes react with incoming nucleophiles and electrophiles in a substitution reaction. Depending on the nature ofthe iron complex employed in the reaction, either o- or Jt-allyl complexes are generated. 

In this context we have synthesized ferriomethyl-substituted silanols and siloxanes starting with the ferriomethylhydridosilanes 3a-e [5], generated by nucleophilic metalation of the chloro-methylsilanes 2a-c with the sodium ferrates la,b (Eq. 1). 

---