NMR parameters of the tetrahedrane [Fe2(CO)6(μ-SNH)], studied by experiment and DFT

The intramolecular dynamic behavior of the tetrahedrane-type cluster [Fe₂(CO)₆(μ-SNH)] 1 was studied by ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. The ⁵⁷Fe chemical shift of 1 and the coupling constants ¹ J(⁵⁷Fe,¹³C) were measured. These NMR parameters, and also ¹ J(⁵⁷Fe,¹⁵N), were found to be in good agreement with data calculated by using density functional theory (DFT) methods (B3LYP), based on the geometry calculated at the 6-311+G(d,p) level of theory. The isolobal replacement of the Fe(CO)₃ with BH fragments leads to the tetrahedranes [Fe(CO)₃(BH)(μ-SNH)] 2 and [(HB)₂(μ-SNH)] 3. Both were identified by calculations as minima on the respective potential energy surface (PES). However, the tetrahedrane-type structure of 3 is much higher in energy when compared with the planar cyclic isomers 3a and 3b.