Diverse reactivity of an iron–aluminium complex with substituted pyridines

Abstract

The reaction of an Fe–Al complex with an array of substituted pyridines is reported. Depending on the substitution pattern of the substrate site-selective sp² or sp³ C–H bond activation is observed. A series of reaction products are observed based on (i) C–Al bond formation, (ii) C–C bond formation by nucleophilic addition or (iii) deprotonation of the β-diketiminate ligand. A divergent set of mechanisms involving a common intermediate is proposed.