Flyover complex

Structure of the flyover complex Fe2(C4H4CO)(CO)6, which has idealized C2-symmetry.

In organometallic chemistry, a flyover complex features two metals bridged by the fragment OC(RC=CR)2. Some flyover complexes are symmetrical and some are not.

Structure of an asymmetrical flyover complex (C5H5)2Fe2[(CCF3)4CO]CO. The Fe-Fe bond length is 258.8 picometers.

Common examples are the iron carbonyl derivatives, which are typically air-stable, soluble in nonpolar solvents, and red-orange in color. These diiron complexes arise by the reaction of alkynes with iron carbonyls. Such reactions are known to generate many products, e.g. complexes of cyclopentadienones and para-quinones.

Some ferrole complexes react with tertiary phosphines to give the substituted flyover complex Fe2(CO)5(PR3)(C4R4CO). They insert alkynes en route to tropones (R6C7O).

References

Uses material from the Wikipedia article Flyover complex, released under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.