The photochemistry of [Fe(III)N3(cyclam-ac)]PF6 at 266 nm

The photochemistry of iron azido complexes is quite challenging and poorly understood. For example, the photochemical decomposition of [Fe(III)N(3)(cyclam-ac)]PF(6) ([1]PF(6)), where cyclam-ac represents the 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane-1-acetate ligand, has been shown to be wavelength-dependent, leading either to the rare high-valent iron(V) nitrido complex [Fe(V)N(cyclam-ac)]PF(6) ([3]PF(6)) after cleavage of the azide N(α)-N(β) bond, or to a photoreduced Fe(II) species after Fe-N(azide) bond homolysis. The mechanistic details of this intriguing reactivity have never been studied in detail. Here, the photochemistry of 1 in acetonitrile solution at room temperature has been investigated using step-scan and rapid-scan time-resolved Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy following a 266 nm, 10 ns pulsed laser excitation. Using carbon monoxide as a quencher for the primary iron-containing photochemical product, it is shown that 266 nm excitation of 1 results exclusively in the cleavage of the Fe-N(azide) bond, as was suspected from earlier steady-state irradiation studies. In argon-purged solutions of [1]PF(6), the solvent-stabilized complex cation [Fe(II)(CH(3)CN)(cyclam-ac)](+) (2red) together with the azide radical (N(3)(.)) is formed with a relative yield of 80%, as evidenced by the appearance of their characteristic vibrational resonances. Strikingly, step-scan experiments with a higher time resolution reveal the formation of azide anions (N(3)(-)) during the first 500 ns after photolysis, with a yield of 20%. These azide ions can subsequently react thermally with 2red to form [Fe(II)N(3)(cyclam-ac)] (1red) as a secondary product of the photochemical decomposition of 1. Molecular oxygen was further used to quench 1red and 2red to form what seems to be the elusive complex [Fe(O(2))(cyclam-ac)](+) (6).