A nucleophilic Fe catalyst for transesterifications under neutral conditions.

Carboxylic esters belong to the most important functional groups in organic chemistry. Strong efforts have been made in developing mild catalytic procedures for their preparation. Among the various methods developed to date, transesterifications have occupied an important space. In the present paper, a new catalytic method for this process based on the use of nucleophilic Fe(-II) complexes is presented. Evidence for the formation of an intermediate acyl Fe complex will be presented as well as investigations on scope and limitations.