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Updated: Dec 13, 2025

Accessing Valuable Ligand Supports for Transition Metals: A Modified, Intermediate Scale Preparation of 1,2,3,4,5-Pentamethylcyclopentadiene
Published on: March 20, 2017
Stack by Stack: From the Free Cyclopentadienylgermanium Cation Via Heterobimetallic Main-Group Sandwiches to
Marcel Schorpp1, Ingo Krossing1
1Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie and Freiburger Materialforschungszentrum (FMF), Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Albertstr. 21, 79104, Freiburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Heterobimetallic cationic sandwich complexes [M(μ-Cp)M'Cp]+ of group 13 (M=Ga, In) and group 14 (M'=Ge, Sn) elements have been prepared as [WCA]- salts (WCA=Al(ORF )4 ; ORF =OC(CF3 )3 ). Their molecular structures include free apical gallium or indium atoms. The sandwich complexes were formed in the reactions of [M(HMB)]+ [WCA]- (HMB=C6 Me6 ) with the free metallocenes [M'Cp2 ]. Their structures are related to known stannocene and stannocenium salts; the unprecedented germanium analogues, namely the free germanocenium cation [GeCp]+ and the corresponding triple-decker complex cation [CpGe(μ-Cp)GeCp]+ , are described herein. By variation of the reaction conditions, these sandwich complexes can be transformed into the group 13/14 mixed cationic coordination polymer [{In(HMB)(μ-SnCp2 )}n ][WCA]n . This polymeric chain motif was also successfully replicated by the synthesis of complexes [{Ga/In(HMB)(μ-FeCp2 )}n ][WCA]n containing FeCp2 as a bridging ligand.
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