Coordination chemistry of acrylamide 6: Formation and structural characterization of [Fe(O-OC(NH2)CHCH2)6][Fe2OCl6]

The new acrylamide iron(II)/iron(III) complex [Fe(O-OC(NH2)CHCH2)6][Fe2OCl6] (1) was obtained by the reaction of a mixture of anhydrous FeCl2 and anhydrous FeCl3 with acrylamide (molar ratio 1:2:6) in 98% pure commercial nitromethane under nitrogen atmosphere. According to an X-ray structural analysis, the acrylamide ligands in the cation are coordinated via the amide-oxygen atoms. The formation of the (μ-oxo)bis[trichloroferrate(III)]2− anion presumably resulted from partial hydrolysis of FeCl3 or [FeCl4]− by small amounts of water in the nitromethane and/or by the nitromethane itself.