Ammonia and Hydrazine from Coordinated Dinitrogen by Complexes of Iron(0): Ammonia and Hydrazine from Coordinated Dinitrogen by Complexes of Iron(0)

The iron(0) dinitrogen complexes [Fe(N-2)(PP(3)A (R))] (PP(3)A (R) = P(CH2CH2PR2)(3), R = Ph, iPr, Cy) were synthesized by reduction of the precursor chloro complexes with potassium graphite. On reaction with triflic acid, [Fe(N-2)(PP(3)A (R))] complexes afforded ammonia and hydrazine in yields of up to 23 and 16 % respectively. The complex [Fe(N-2)(PP3Ph)] which has only been previously synthesized in situ, has now been isolated and fully characterized by N-15 NMR spectroscopy and by X-ray crystallography.