Abstract: | Imidyl and nitrene metal species play an important role in the N-functionalisation of unreactive C–H bonds as well as the aziridination of olefines. We report on the synthesis of the trigonal imido iron complexes [Fe(NMes)L2]0,− (L = –N{Dipp}SiMe3); Dipp = 2,6-diisopropyl-phenyl; Mes = (2,4,6-trimethylphenyl) via reaction of mesityl azide (MesN3) with the linear iron precursors [FeL2]0,−. UV-vis-, EPR-, 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, magnetometry, and computational methods suggest for the reduced form an electronic structure as a ferromagnetically coupled iron(ii) imidyl radical, whereas oxidation leads to mixed iron(iii) imidyl and electrophilic iron(ii) nitrene character. Reactivity studies show that both complexes are capable of H atom abstraction from C–H bonds. Further, the reduced form [Fe(NMes)L2]− reacts nucleophilically with CS2 by inserting into the imido iron bond, as well as electrophilically with CO under nitrene transfer. The neutral [Fe(NMes)L2] complex shows enhanced electrophilic behavior as evidenced by nitrene transfer to a phosphine, yet in combination with an overall reduced reactivity.A pair of trigonal imido iron complexes ([Fe(NMes)L2]0,−) in two oxidation states is reported. The anionic complex K{crypt.222}[Fe(NMes)L2] is best described as an iron(ii) imide. |