ortho-Hydroxylation of benzoic acids with hydrogen peroxide at a non-heme iron center

The iron-assisted hydroxylation of benzoic acid to salicylic acid by 1/H2O2 has been achieved in good yield under mild conditions (where 1 is [Fe(II)(BPMEN)(CH3CN)2](ClO4)2 and BPMEN =N,Nʹ-dimethyl-N,Nʹ-bis(2-pyridylmethyl) ethane-1,2-diamine); the product of this reaction is a novel mononuclear iron(III) complex with a chelating salicylate.