Unusual demetalation of iron from [2]ferrocenophane skeleton of di‐nuclear ferracycle carbonyl complex

Abstract

Photolysis of a hexane solution containing 1,1′‐ bis (trimethylsilylethynyl)ferrocene (1) and Fe (CO)5, under argon at 0 °C led to the formation of dinuclear complexes [Fe (CO)2{η2:η2 – C (SiMe3) = C(C5H4)FeC(C5H4) = C (SiMe3)Fe (CO)3}–μ–CO] (2) and [Fe (CO)2{η2:η2–C (SiMe3) = C(C5H5)–C(C5H5) = C (SiMe3)Fe (CO)3}–μ–CO] (3). DFT calculations support the experimentally observed demetalation of ferrocene unit of 2 to 3 in presence of water. These compounds were comprehensively characterized by IR and 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and crystallographically (1 and 3).