Coordination-induced axial chirality controls the metal-centred configuration in a stereogenic-at-iron catalyst.

A new approach is introduced to control the metal-centred configuration of stereogenic-at-iron catalysts by utilizing axial ligand chirality, which becomes locked upon metal coordination. This strategy is applied to an iron catalyst containing two chelating N-(2-pyridyl)-substituted triazol-5-ylidene mesoionic carbenes (MICs) resulting in a helical topology with a stereogenic iron centre.