2.1. Results
During the course of studies on the reactivity of M+[HFe(CO)4]− for the carbonylation
of ethyl acrylate [17] and norbornene [18], it was incidentally observed that
triphenylphosphine reacts with K+[HFe(CO)4]− in ethanol to form the disubstituted
neutral complex Fe(CO)3(PPh3)2. Further studies showed that this reaction is the
best route to selectively obtain Fe(CO)3(PPh3)2 in high yield (Eq. (2)) [19].