Isomers in the Chemistry of Iron Coordination Compounds

The coordination chemistry of iron covers a wide field, as shown by a survey covering the crystallographic and structural data of almost one thousand and three hundred coordination complexes. About 6.7% of these complexes exist as isomers and are summarized in this review. Included are distortion (96.6%) and cis — trans (3.4%) isomers. These are discussed in terms of the coordination about the iron atom, bond length and interbond angles. Distortion isomers, differing only by degree of distortion in Fe-L, Fe-L-Fe and L-Fe-L parameters, are the most common. Iron is found in the oxidation states zero, +2 and +3 of which +3 is most common. The stereochemistry around iron centers are tetrahedral, five — coordinated (mostly trigonal — bipyramid) and six — coordinated. The most common ligands have O and N donor sites.