Treatment of [Fe
IV(O)(TPA)(NCMe)](CF
3SO
3)
2 [TPA,
N,
N,
N-tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine] with 3 equi
v of NR
4X (X =CF
3CO
2, Cl, or Br) in MeCN at -40
C affords a series of metastable [Fe
IV(O)(TPA)(X)]
+ complexes. Somecharacteristic features of the
S = 1 oxoiron(IV) unit are quite insensiti
ve to the ligand substitution in the equatorialplane, namely, the Fe-O distances (1.65-1.66 Å), the energy (~7114.5 eV) and intensity [25(2) units] of the1s-to-3d transition in the X-ray absorption spectra, and the M&
ouml;ssbauer isomer shifts (0.01-0.06 mm·s
-1) andquadrupole splittings (0.92-0.95 mm·s
-1). The coordination of the anionic X ligand, howe
ver, is e
videnced by redshifts of the characteristic near-IR ligand-field bands (720-800 nm) and spectroscopic obser
vation of the boundanion by
19F NMR for X = CF
3CO
2 and by EXAFS analysis for X = Cl (
rFe-Cl = 2.29 Å) and Br (
rFe-Br = 2.43Å). Density functional theory calculations yield M&
ouml;ssbauer parameters and bond lengths in good agreement withthe experimental data and produce excited-state energies that follow the trend obser
ved in the ligand-field bands.Despite mitigating the high effecti
ve charge of the iron(IV) center, the substitution of the MeCN ligand with monoanionicligands X
- decreases the thermal stability of [Fe
IV(O)(TPA)]
2+ complexes. These anion-substituted complexes modelthe
cis-X-Fe
IV=O units proposed in the mechanisms of oxygen-acti
vating nonheme iron enzymes.