Tricarbonyl(1-methoxycarbonyl-5-phenylpentadienyl)iron(1+) hexafluorophosphate (7) was prepared in two steps from tricarbonyl(methyl 6-oxo-2,4-hexadienoate)iron. While addition of carbon and heteroatom nucleophiles to 7 generally occurs at the phenyl-substituted dienyl carbon to afford (2,4-dienoate)iron products, the addition of phthalimide proceeded at C2 to afford a (pentenediyl)iron product (18). Complex 18 was structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis.
The reaction of the title cation with carbon and heteroatom nucleophiles was examined. In general, the products arise from nucleophilic attack at C5 to give E,E- or E,Z-dienoate iron complexes. Addition of phthalimide anion proceeds at C2 of the cation to afford a (pentenediyl)iron complex, whose structure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis