ansa‐[(tert‐Butylamino)(isodicyclo­pentadienyl)dimethylsilane]Zr(NMe2)2 prepared by an amine‐elimination reaction

An amine‐elimination reaction was used to obtain the title compound, i.e. (N‐tert‐butyl‐N‐{(1,2,3,3a,7a‐η)‐4,5,6,7‐tetra­hydro‐4,7‐methano‐1H‐inden‐2‐yl]­di­methyl­silyl}amido‐κN)bis(N‐methyl­methanaminato‐κN)­zirconium(IV) or isodiCpSiMe₂N‐tert‐butyl]Zr(NMe₂)₂ (Cp is cyclo­penta­dienyl), Zr(C₁₆H₂₅NSi)(C₂H₆N)₂], in very good yield. Treatment of isodiCpHSiMe₂NH‐tert‐butyl with Zr(NMe₂)₄ leads to the formation of a yellow solid that can be purified by sublimation. The single‐crystal structure of the product shows the exo complexation of the isodi­cyclo­penta­dienyl ligand to the Zr atom. The Cp portion of this ligand is bonded to the Zr atom in a η⁵ manner, with a Zr—Cg (Cg is the ring centroid) distance of 2.2352 (10) Å. The isodiCpSiMe₂N‐tert‐butyl ligand has a constrained geometry, which is exhibited by the small angle of 95.55 (10)° for N—Si—C_Cp.