Peroxo iron(iii) complexes have been proposed as key intermediates in various oxidation reactions catalyzed by mononuclear non-heme iron enzymes and their functional model complexes. [1] Various types of synthetic mononuclear peroxo ± iron(iii) complexes with h 2 -peroxo, [2, 3] h 1 -hydroperoxo, [3,4] and alkylperoxo [5] ligands have been characterized by spectroscopic studies. However, there is no structurally characterized mononuclear peroxo iron(iii) complex to date. It has been shown that the structure, electronic structure, and reactivity of the peroxo complexes can be modified by the coordination environment at an iron(iii) center. For instance, a tetradentate tripod ligand, tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (TPA), has been shown to form a low-spin h 1 -hydroperoxo species, whereas sterically bulky TPA derivatives with 6-methyl groups give low-spin and/or high-spin alkylperoxo species. [5d] Furthermore, interconversion between h 2 -peroxo and h 1hydroperoxo species has been also observed in some complexes, where a change in spin states (high spin and low spin) also occurs. [1c, 3] Most of these peroxo ± iron(iii) complexes have nitrogen-rich coordination environments, except for the ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) complex. Thus, it is of interest to investigate how the nature of the donor atoms and the stereochemistry of the supporting ligands influence the formation, structure, and properties of such peroxo ± iron(iii) complexes. Here, we report the synthesis of a novel mononuclear iron(iii) complex with a bidentate peroxocarbonate ligand in a carboxylate-rich coordination environment, [Fe(qn) 2 (O 2 C(O)O)]Ph 4 P ¥ 1.5 CH 3 OH ¥ 0.5 (CH 3 ) 2 NCHO (1; see Figure 1), derived from the reaction of a bis(m-hydroxo)diiron(iii) complex, [Fe 2 (qn) 4 (OH) 2 ] ¥ 2 H 2 O (2) with H 2 O 2 and CO 2 , where Hqn is quinaldic acid. Compound 1 is the first 2 H; CH 2 ), 1.68 (m, 1 H; CH), 1.10 (s, 3 H; CH 3 ), 1.05 (s, 3 H; CH 3 ), and 0.95 (s, 3 H; CH 3 ); 13 C NMR (75 MHz, CDCl 3 , 258C): d