Synthesis and Characterization of Dearomatized Pyridine‐Derived Alkyl‐Amido‐tert‐Butylphosphine Iron(II) Complexes

Neutral three‐coordinate iron alkylidenes of the form PN‐Fe=CHR have been proposed as viable candidates for alkene metathesis. Indeed, during the final stages of preparing this current study, a separate report disclosed that dearomatized PN‐Fe‐alkyl complexes are active precatalysts for ring‐opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of norbornene implicating PN‐Fe=CHR species as possible intermediates. In yet another separate report, we prepared Zn analogues of PN‐Fe‐alkyl complexes and herein provide an account for the synthesis, characterization, and reactivity of some new iron complexes with the same tBu substituted PN platform.