OPTICALLY-ACTIVE TRANSITION-METAL COMPLEXES .103. CONFIGURATIONAL STABILITY OF NEW PLANAR CHIRAL INDENYL IRON COMPLEXES

1-Me and 1-(t)Bu substituted pi-indenyl iron complexes of the type IndFe(CO)(CH3)L have been prepared. Due to the planar chirality and the central chirality at Fe, they consist of 4 stereoisomers. The introduction of the optically active phosphine L = (S)-(+)-(C6H5)2P-N(CH3)-CH(CH3)C6H5 into the complexes allows H-1 nmr differentiation of the four diastereoisomers of each series. Some of the diastereoisomers can be isolated by preparative liquid chromatography. Whereas the diastereoisomers epimerize with respect to the chiral iron atom, they do not change their configuration with respect to the planar chirality neither in boiling toluene solution, nor in the solid state at 60 kbar pressure up to temperatures of 400-degrees-C, and in the presence of electron transfer reagents.