Syntheses, NMR and EPR Spectroscopy, Electrochemical Properties, and Structural Studies of [5,10,15,20-Tetrakis(perfluoroalkyl)porphinato]iron(II) and -iron(III) Complexes

Syntheses, structural studies, electrochemistry, and spectroscopy of a number of [5,10,15,20-tetrakis(heptafluoropropyl)porphinato]iron derivatives are presented. The X-ray crystal structure of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(heptafluoropropyl)porphinato]iron(II)·(pyridine) 2 exhibits a substantial S 4 distortion of the porphyrin macrocycle, with the meso -carbon atoms displaced more than 0.6 Å above and below the porphyrin mean plane defined by the four central nitrogen atoms; the most notable aspect of this ferrous porphyrin structure is the fact that it exhibits metrical features commonly manifested in crystallographically characterized ferric porphyrin complexes. X-ray data are as follows: P 2 1 / n with a = 12.772(1) Å, b = 18.895(2) Å, c = 19.756(2) Å, β = 99.960(6)°, V = 4695.7(8) Å 3, Z = 4, and d calc = 1.689 g/cm 3 . 19 F NMR spectroscopy confirms the sensitivity of the 19 F nucleus as a probe of macrocycle aromaticity and electronic structure, while 1 H NMR spectroscopic studies show large isotropic shifts for the β-protons of the (porphinato)iron(III) chloride derivative (δ = 101.5 and 86.4 ppm). Electrochemical data obtained from cyclic voltammetric and spectroelectrochemical experiments reveal that the E 1/2 value for the Fe II/III redox couple for 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(heptafluoropropyl)porphinato]iron·(pyridine) 2 is shifted by 550 mV relative to that observed for the corresponding (porphinato)iron(III) chloride complex. The cathodic electrochemistry of [5,10,15,20-tetrakis(heptafuoropropyl)porphinato]iron·(pyridine) 2 is also unusual in that the first one-electron reduction of this complex produces a largely macrocycle-localized radical anion. EPR spectroscopic data shows that 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(heptafluoropropyl)porphinato]iron(III)·(pyridine) 2 manifests a pure axial spectrum (Δ/λ = −26.4; Σ g 2 = 12.53) congruent with a (d xz,d yz ) 4 (d xy ) 1 electronic ground state. The extraordinary structural, potentiometric, and spectroscopic properties of these (porphinato)iron species arise from substantially reduced metal-centered electron density effected by the macrocycle's non-π-conjugating, σ-electron-withdrawing meso -perfluoroalkyl substituents.