Syntheses and structural characterizations of rhenium carbonyl complexes of a bitopic ferrocene-linked bis(pyrazolyl)methane ligand

The reaction between FeC₅H₄CH(pz)₂]₂ (pz = pyrazolyl ring) and two equivalents of Re(CO)₅Br in refluxing toluene produces FeC₅H₄CH(pz)₂Re(CO)₃Br]₂ (1) in high yield. A similar reaction with a ligand/rhenium ratio of slightly greater than one yields mainly 1 and a low yield of FeC₅H₄CH(pz)₂Re(CO)₃Br]C₅H₄CH(pz)₂] (2). The compound H₂C(pz)₂Re(CO)₃Br (3) was prepared by the reaction of H₂C(pz)₂ and Re(CO)₅Br. Compounds 1 and 2 show a reversible oxidation at ca. 0.9 V (Ag/AgCl) that can be assigned to the oxidation of the ferrocene moiety and one irreversible oxidation at ca. 1.4 V assigned to the oxidation of the rhenium metal center. The solid-state structures of 1 · CH₃NO₂, 1 · 2CH₃NO₂, 1 · 2CH₃CN and 2 · 1/2Et₂O · 1/2C₃H₆O have been determined, with 1 · 2CH₃NO₂ and 1 · 2CH₃CN being isomorphous. All four are organized into supramolecular structures by the interactions of the acidic hydrogens of the pyrazolyl and methine groups with either the bromine atoms or carbonyl ligand oxygen atoms, and in 2 the lone pairs on the uncomplexed bis(pyrazolyl)methane units.