Aryl-substituted BIAN complexes of iron dibromide: Synthesis, X-ray and electronic structure, and catalytic hydrosilylation activity

Iron dibromide complexes bearing α-diimine ligands ArNC(Me)(Me)CNAr and ArBIAN (BIAN = bis(imino)acenaphthene; Ar = dpp and Mes; dpp = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl; Mes = 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl) are prepared and promote the catalytic hydrosilylation of 1-hexene. A high-spin iron(II) precatalyst and a redox-active [dppBIAN1−]FeI catalyst electronic structure description is supported by computational analysis.69