Novel reaction of cycloheptatriene(tricarbonyl)iron: nucleophilic addition to and breaking of the cycloheptatriene ring

Abstract

Reaction of cycloheptatriene(tricarbonyl)iron (1) with o-toly-lithium, followed by reaction of the intermediate acylmetallate with Et₃OBF₄, in CH₂Cl₂ at –60 °C and in aqueous solution at 0 °C, affords the novel compounds (CCl₃-cyclo-C₇H₈)(OC)₂Fe(COC₆H₄Me-o)(2) and the ring-opened (OC)₂Fe{C(OEt)(C₆H₄Me-o)C₇ H₈}(3), respectively, the structures of which have been determined by X-ray crystallography.