Diastereocontrol of η4-α,β-unsaturated ketone–Fe(CO)3 complexation by an adjacent metal-complexed chiral centre

Abstract

The reaction of tricarbonyl-[η⁶-3-(o-methyl- or o-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenylprop-2-en-1-onelchromium with nonacarbonyldi-iron gives specifically one diastereoisomer of the η⁴-Fe(CO)₃–α,β-unsaturated ketone–η⁶ Cr(CO)₃–ortho-substituted arene complex, the relative configuration (RS,SR) of which was unambiguously established by X-ray analysis; the equivalent reaction using the 3-m-methoxyphenylpropenone isomer gives a 1 : 1 mixture of two diastereoisomers.