Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-course-of-the-year-4-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/paper-3/section-e/45/a/solution
Past exam of the chemistry course of the year 4 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2022 Paper 3 Section E 45 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
Each primary amine arm of 2 condenses with one aldehyde 1, eliminating three waters overall and forming a tripodal tris(pyridylimine) ligand . The three imine nitrogens and the three adjacent pyridine nitrogens chelate one Fe(II), giving , with three outward-facing terminal pyridines still free. The central tertiary amine is the tethering apex, not a seventh donor in the six-coordinate model.
The Fe coordination is approximately octahedral and is propeller-chiral: three bidentate chelates can have or configuration. Achiral starting components and conditions give a racemic population unless a separate resolving influence is introduced. imine condensation and metal coordination cooperate in subcomponent self-assembly; the metal template selects the convergent ligand arrangement.
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