ferrocene density g ml
Ferrous(II) bis(cyclopentadienyl)iron (Fe(Cp)2), also known as ferrocene or bis(cyclopentadienyl)iron, is an organometallic compound consisting of an iron atom sandwiched between two cyclopentadienyl rings. This unusual structure has many potential applications including as a precursor to numerous types of organic compounds, a fuel additive and as a source of iron nanoparticles for the production of carbon nanotubes.
In its simplest form, ferrocene is prepared by the transmetalation of sodium cyclopentadienyl with anhydrous ferrous chloride in ethereal solvents. Mossbauer spectroscopy indicates that the central iron atom is normally assigned to a +2 oxidation state. Each cyclopentadienyl ring then receives a single negative charge – this extra electron occupies a p orbital, giving the complex six p-electrons. The resulting complex is then aromatic according to Huckel’s rule, with the twelve p-electrons shared with the metal via covalent bonding. This results in a 18-electron configuration that accounts for its stability and is what makes it so attractive as a metallocene.
Ferrocene has a wide range of reactivity. It undergoes many reactions characteristic of aromatic compounds, allowing the preparation of numerous derivatives. A typical undergraduate experiment is the Friedel-Crafts reaction of ferrocene with acetic anhydride in the presence of phosphoric acid as a catalyst.
Derivatives of ferrocene include hexaferrocenylbenzene, C6[(e5-C5H4)Fe(e5-C5H5)]6, where all six positions on a benzene molecule have ferrocenyl substituents; 1,1′-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene, dppf, where the ferrocene moiety is bonded to a chiral phenyl ring; and