Three dinuclear (nitrosyl)iron complexes containing three 1,2-di(phenyl)ethylene-1,2-dithiolate ligands have beenprepared ([Fe
2(NO)
2(S
2C
2R
2)
3]
0 (R = phenyl,
1a;
p-tolyl,
2a; (4-
tert-butyl)phenyl,
3a)). Each of these compoundsrepresents the first member of a three-membered electron-transfer series: [Fe
2(NO)
2(S
2C
2R
2)
3]
z (
z = 0, -1,, -2).The salt [Co(Cp)
2][Fe
2(NO)
2(L
3)
3] has also been isolated. The molecular structures of
2a and
3a have been determinedby X-ray crystallography. Both neutral complexes contain two nearly linear FeNO units, one of which is S,S'-coordinated to two dithiolene ligands yielding a square-based pyramidal Fe(NO)S
4 polyhedron; the second FeNOmoiety forms two (
2-S)-bridges to the first unit and is S,S'-coordinated to a third dithiolate radical yielding also asquare-based pyramidal Fe(NO)S
4 polyhedron. The electronic structures of the neutral, monoanionic, and dianionicspecies have been elucidated spectroscopically (UV-vis, IR, EPR, Mössbauer): [{Fe
II(NO
+)}(L
){Fe
II(
O)}(L)
2]
0(
S = 0); [{Fe
II(
O)}(L
){Fe
II(
O)}(L)
2]
1- (
S =
1/
2); and [{Fe
II(
O)}(L){Fe
II(
O)}(L)
2]
2- (
S = 0), where (L)
2-represents the corresponding closed-shell dithiolate dianion and (L
)
- is its monoanionic radical.