New phosphorus-containing dendrimers with ferrocenyl units in each layer

New phosphorus-containing dendrimers bearing ferrocenyl units within the branches were synthesised using a new 1,1’-disubstituted ferrocenyl building block. The structure of one of the synthetic intermediates was determined by X-ray analysis. In every case, one single oxidation was observed for each ferrocenic layer, corresponding to the independent oxidation of all ferrocenes within one layer to ferroceniums. The oxidation potential for a particular layer depends on substituents on ferrocenes, but not on their localisation within the dendrimers.