Well‐Defined Four‐Coordinate Iron(II) Complexes For Intramolecular Hydroamination of Primary Aliphatic Alkenylamines

Despite the growing interest in iron catalysis and hydroamination reactions, iron‐catalyzed hydroamination of unprotected primary aliphatic amines and unactivated alkenes has not been reported to date. Herein, a novel well‐defined four‐coordinate β‐diketiminatoiron(II) alkyl complex is shown to be an excellent precatalyst for the highly selective cyclohydroamination of primary aliphatic alkenylamines at mild temperatures (70–90 °C). Both empirical kinetic analyses and the reactivity of an isolated iron(II) amidoalkene dimer, LFe(NHCH₂CPh₂CH₂CH?CH₂)]₂ favor a stepwise σ‐insertive mechanism that entails migratory insertion of the pendant alkene into an iron–amido bond associated with a rate‐determining aminolysis step.