Isolation, Characterization, and Reactivity of Fe8Me12 –: Kochi’s S = 1/2 Species in Iron-Catalyzed Cross-Couplings with MeMgBr and Ferric Salts

Iron-catalyzed cross-couplings with simple ferric salts have been known since the 1970s, pioneered by Kochi for cross-coupling using alkylmagnesium nucleophiles including MeMgBr. While Kochi observed the formation of a S = 1/2 iron species in reactions of simple ferric salts with MeMgBr proposed to be an iron­(I) species, the identity of this species has remained undefined for nearly 40 years. Herein, we report the isolation and characterization of [MgCl(THF)5][Fe8Me12], which combined with EPR and MCD studies is shown to be consistent with Kochi’s S = 1/2 species. Reaction studies with β-bromostyrene demonstrate that this species alone displays minimal reactivity but, when combined with additional MeMgBr, leads to rapid and selective formation of cross-coupled product.