Synthesis, structure, and NO-donor activity of the paramagnetic complex [Fe2(SC3H5N2)2(NO)4] as a model of nitrosyl [2FE-2S] proteins

The neutral dinuclear iron nitrosyl complex [Fe2(SC3H5N2)2(NO)4] (1) of the “g = 2.03” family with a ligand analogous to natural mercaptohistidine was synthesized by the metathesis reaction of the thiosulfate ligands in the [Fe2(S2O3)2(NO)4]2− anion with imidazolidine-2-thiolate ligands. The electrochemical determination of nitrogen oxide in solution showed that compound 1 has a lower NO-donor ability compared to the iron complexes with 1-methylimidazole-2-thiol and imidazole-2-thiol synthesized earlier. Study of the magnetic properties of polycrystals of 1 demonstrated that the effective magnetic moment at room temperature is ca. 2.45 µB and corresponds to a molecule containing a pair of the noninteracting spins S = 1/2. This is evidence that each iron coordination unit in complex 1 contains one unpaired electron, and the iron atom is in the low-spin state.