Structural and electronic characterization of nitrosyl(octaethylporphinato)iron(III) perchlorate derivatives.

The synthesis and crystallographic characterization of the five-coordinate iron(III) porphyrinate complex [Fe(OEP)(NO)]ClO4 are reported. This [FeNO]6 complex has a nearly linear Fe-N-O group (angle = 173.19(13) degrees) with a small off-axis tilt of the Fe-N(NO) vector from the heme normal (angle = 4.6 degrees); the Fe-N(NO) distance is 1.6528(13) A and the iron is displaced 0.32 A out-of-plane. The complex forms a tight cofacial pi-pi dimer in the solid state. Mössbauer spectra for this derivative as well as for a related crystalline form are measured both in zero applied magnetic field and in a 7 T applied field. Fits to the measurements made in applied magnetic field demonstrate that both crystalline forms of [Fe(OEP)(NO)]ClO4 have a diamagnetic ground state at 4.2 K. The observed isomer shifts (delta = 0.22-0.24 mm/s) are smaller than those typically observed for low-spin iron(III) porphyrinates. Analogous Mössbauer measurements are also obtained for a six-coordinate derivative, [Fe(OEP)(Iz)(NO)]ClO4 (Iz = indazole). The observed isomer shift for this species is smaller still (delta = 0.02 mm/s). All derivatives show a strong temperature dependence of the isomer shift. The data emphasize the strongly covalent nature of the FeNO group. The Mössbauer isomer shifts suggest formal oxidation states greater than +3 for iron, but the NO stretching frequencies are not consistent with such a large charge transfer to NO. Differences in the observed nitrosyl stretching frequencies of the two crystalline forms of [Fe(OEP)(NO)]ClO4 are discussed.