SYNTHESIS AND MOLECULAR-STRUCTURE OF A COMPLEX CONTAINING ALL 3 INTERMEDIATES OF THE CARBENE SYNTHESIS FROM COORDINATED ISOCYANIDES

Reaction of 3 equiv, of 2-trimethylsiloxyphenyl isocyanide 1 with (eta (5)-C5H5)Fe(CO)(2)Cl yields the triisocyanide complex [(eta(5)-C5H5)Fe (1)(3)]Cl 5; hydrolysis of the Si-O bonds in 5 leads to intramolecular nucleophilic attack of the hydroxy oxygen atoms at the isocyanide car bon atoms and formation of 5)Fe[CN(H)(C4H4-2-O)][CN(C4H4-2-O)](CN-C6H4 -2-OH)} 6, a complex which was shown by X-ray crystallography to conta in a 2-hydroxyphenyl isocyanide, a benzoxazol-2-yl and a 1,2-dihydrobe nzoxazol-2-ylidene ligand.