Two-State Reactivity in Iron-Catalyzed Alkene Isomerization Confers σ-Base Resistance

A low-coordinate, high spin (S = 3/2) organometallic iron(I) complex is a catalyst for the isomerization of alkenes. A combination of experimental and computational mechanistic studies supports a mechanism in which alkene isomerization occurs by the allyl mechanism. Importantly, while substrate binding occurs on the S = 3/2 surface, oxidative addition to an eta(1)-allyl intermediate only occurs on the S = 1/2 surface. Since this spin state change is only possible when the alkene substrate is bound, the catalyst has high immunity to typical sigma-base poisons due to the antibonding interactions of the high spin state.