PHOTOCHEMICAL REDUCTION OF IRON TRICHLORIDE IN ETHYL-ACETATE - SYNTHESIS, MOSSBAUER-SPECTRA AND THE CRYSTAL-STRUCTURE AT 80 K OF HEXAKIS(ETHYL ACETATE)IRON(II) BIS-TETRACHLOROIRONATE(III)

FeCl3 in ethyl acetate under the influence of sunlight undergoes parti al reduction yields the [Fe(CH3CO2Et)6](FeCl4)2 salt. The Mossbauer sp ectra showed that the iron atoms are at +2 and +3 oxidation states. Th e crystal structure determined by X-ray diffraction methods at 80 K an d refined by full-matrix least-squares techniques to R = 0.028 for 241 0 independent non-zero reflections is in good agreement with the Mossb auer results. The [Fe(CH3CO2Et)6]2+ cations occupy centers of symmetry and the Fe 2 +ions are octahedrally coordinated by six carbonyl oxyge n atoms of six ethyl acetate molecules.