Ortho-hydroxylation of benzoic acids with hydrogen peroxide at a non-heme iron center

The iron-assisted hydroxylation of benzoic acid to salicylic acid by 1/H2O2 has been achieved in good yield under mild conditions (where 1 is [Fe(II)(BPMEN)(CH3CN)(2)](ClO4)(2) and BPMEN = N,N'-dimethyl-N,N'-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethane-1,2- diamine); the product of this reaction is a novel mononuclear iron(III) complex with a chelating salicylate.