Pyrazolyl methyls prescribe the electronic properties of iron(ii) tetra(pyrazolyl)lutidine chloride complexes

A series of iron(ii) chloride complexes of pentadentate ligands related to α,α,α′,α′-tetra(pyrazolyl)-2,6-lutidine, pz ₄lut, has been prepared to evaluate whether pyrazolyl substitution has any systematic impact on the electronic properties of the complexes. For this purpose, the new tetrakis(3,4,5-trimethylpyrazolyl)lutidine ligand, pz** ₄lut, was prepared via a CoCl ₂-catalyzed rearrangement reaction. The equimolar combination of ligand and FeCl ₂ in methanol gives the appropriate 1:1 complexes [FeCl(pz ^R ₄lut)]Cl that are each isolated in the solid state as a hygroscopic solvate. In solution, the iron(ii) complexes have been fully characterized by several spectroscopic methods and cyclic voltammetry. In the solid state, the complexes have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, and, in some cases, by Mössbauer spectroscopy. The Mössbauer studies show that the complexes remain high spin to 4 K and exclude spin-state changes as the cause of the surprising solid-state thermochromic properties of the complexes. Non-intuitive results of spectroscopic and structural studies showed that methyl substitution at the 3- and 5- positions of the pyrazolyl rings reduces the ligand field strength through steric effects whereas methyl substitution at the 4-position of the pyrazolyl rings increases the ligand field strength through inductive effects.