Mössbauer and computational study of an N2-bridged diiron diketiminate complex: parallel alignment of the iron spins by direct antiferromagnetic exchange with activated dinitrogen.

This work reports Mössbauer and DFT studies of the diiron-N2 complex LMeFeNNFeLMe (L = beta-diketiminate), 1a. Complex 1a, formally diiron(I), has a system spin S = 3 with an isolated MS = +/-3 quasi-doublet as a ground state; the MS = +/-2 doublet is >100 cm-1 higher in energy. Complex 1a exhibits at 4.2 K a large, positive magnetic hyperfine field, Bint = +68.1 T, and an effective g value of 16 +/- 2 along the easy magnetization axis of the ground doublet; this value is significantly larger than the spin-only value (g = 12). These results have been rationalized by DFT calculations, which show that each Fe site donates significant electron density into the pi* orbitals of dinitrogen, resulting in a configuration best described as two high-spin FeII (Sa = Sb = 2) bridged by triplet N22- (Sc = 1). In this description the minority spin electron of each iron is accommodated by two nonbonding, closely spaced 3d orbitals, z2 and yz (z is perpendicular to the diketiminate planes, x is along the Fe...Fe vector). Spin-orbit coupling between these orbital states generates a large unquenched orbital momentum along the iron-iron vector. The S = 3 ground state of 1a results from strong antiferromagnetic direct exchange couplings of the Fe spins (Sa = Sb = 2) to the N22- spin (Sc = 1) and can be formulated as ((Sa,Sb)Sab = 4, Sc = 1), S = 3>; H = J(Sa + Sb).Sc with J approximately 3500 cm-1.