Iron-stabilized carbocations as intermediates for organic synthesis.

Attachment of a transition metal moiety to an olefinic ligand presents the organic chemist with unequaled opportunities to control the regio- and stereospecificities of bond formation. Applications of cationic dienyliron-carbonyl complexes to a range of natural product syntheses have been developed. These applications show how the iron-carbonyl unit directs the regio- and stereochemistry of nucleophile addition. They also show that the iron-carbonyl unit can be used to stabilize otherwise inaccessible carbocations, thereby making them readily available as synthetic intermediates.