Iron Cyclopentadienone Complexes: Discovery, Properties, and Catalytic Reactivity

Iron cyclopentadienone complexes have recently received particular attention in organic chemistry. This is due to their easy synthesis from simple and cheap materials, air-water stability, and most importantly for their unique catalytic features arising from the presence of a non-innocent ligand, triggering powerful redox properties. Herein we discuss the properties of such complexes from synthetic and mechanistic points of view, and their applications in original redox-neutral transformations in both racemic and enantioselective series.