Synthesis and crystal structure of tetraiminediphenolate diiron(II) macrocyclic complex

The crystal structure of the binuclear tetraiminediphenolate diiron(II) macrocyclic complex [Fe2(tidf)(CH3OH)4](ClO4)2 (tidf = tetraiminediphenolate ligand) is presented. The molecular structure (monoclinic, space group C2/c, Z = 4, a = 20.6903(14)Å, b = 11.0827(11) Å, c = 16.0494(15) Å, β = 99.911(6) shows two iron(II) cores occupying distorted octahedral geometries with four methanol molecules bound axially. Main equatorial bond distances are 2.050(3) Å for Fe—O1 and 2.067(4) Å for Fe—N1 with a Fe⋅⋅⋅ Fe distance of 3.108(1) Å. Contrasting to the monoiron complex the macrocycle does not adopt a bent conformation being nearly coplanar with the maximum deviation from the least-squares plane of 0.18 Å.