Seeing the -Dihydroxylating Intermediate: A Mononuclear Nonheme Iron-Peroxo Complex in -Dihydroxylation Reactions Modeling Rieske Dioxygenases.

The nature of reactive intermediates and the mechanism of the -dihydroxylation of arenes and olefins by Rieske dioxygenases and synthetic nonheme iron catalysts have been the topic of intense research over the past several decades. In this study, we report that a spectroscopically well characterized mononuclear nonheme iron(III)-peroxo complex reacts with olefins and naphthalene derivatives, yielding iron(III) cycloadducts that are isolated and characterized structurally and spectroscopically. Kinetics and product analysis reveal that the nonheme iron(III)-peroxo complex is a nucleophile that reacts with olefins and naphthalenes to yield -diol products. The present study reports the first example of the -dihydroxylation of substrates by a nonheme iron(III)-peroxo complex that yields -diol products.