Synthesis and characterization of heterometallic complexes involving coinage metals and isoelectronic Fe(CO)₅, [Mn(CO)₅]^-and [Fe(CO)₄CN]^-ligands

The chemistry of coinage metal ions with Fe(CO)5, [Mn(CO)5]- and [Fe(CO)4CN]- has been explored using Mes3P and N-heterocyclic carbene supporting ligands. A comparison of [(SIPr)Au-Fe(CO)5][SbF6], [(Et2CAAC)Au-Fe(CO)5][SbF6] and [(Mes3P)Au-Fe(CO)5][SbF6] shows that the ligand donor strength towards Au(i) follows the order Mes3P > Et2CAAC > SIPr. These Fe(CO)5 complexes show significant blue shifts in CO bands relative to those observed for free Fe(CO)5 as a result of it serving as a net electron donor to Au(i). Au(i) is a much stronger acceptor in (SIPr)Au-Mn(CO)5 compared to Ag(i) in (SIPr)Ag-Mn(CO)5. The structural details of Mes3PAu-Mn(CO)5 are also presented. [Fe(CO)4CN]- afforded CN bridged coinage metal complexes with (IPr∗)Au+, (SIPr)Ag+ and (SIPr)Cu+ moieties, rather than molecules with direct Fe/coinage metal bonds. The computed total interaction energies indicate that both [Mn(CO)5]- and [Fe(CO)4CN]- are stronger donors toward Au(i) than Fe(CO)5. A detailed analysis of the bonding interactions between the coinage metal ions and Fe(CO)5, [Mn(CO)5]- and [Fe(CO)4CN]- suggests that the largest contribution comes from electrostatic attraction, while the covalent component follows the Dewar-Chatt-Duncanson model. The σ-donor interactions of these organometallic ligands with coinage metal ions are considerably stronger than the π-backbonding from the coinage metal ions.