Ligand Field Effects on the Ground and Excited States of the Catalytically Active FeO2+ Species

We have performed high-level wave function theory calculations on bare FeO2+ and a series of non-heme Fe(IV)-oxo model complexes in order to elucidate the electronic properties and the ligand field effects on those channels. Our results suggest that a coordination environment formed by a weak field gives access to both competitive channels, yielding more reactive Fe(IV)-oxo sites. On the contrary, a strong ligand environment stabilizes only the σ-channel. Our concluding remarks will aid on the derivation of new structure-reactivity descriptors that can contribute on the development of the next generation of functional catalysts.