Ferrocene compounds. XXXIV. 1′‐(tert‐Butoxycarbonylamino)ferrocene‐1‐carboxylic acid

Heteroannularly substituted ferrocene derivatives can act as model systems for various hydrogen‐bonded assemblies of biomol­ecules formed, for instance, by means of O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonding. The crystal structure analysis of 1′‐(tert‐butoxy­carbonyl­amino)­ferrocene‐1‐carbox­ylic acid, [Fe(C₁₀H₁₄NO₂)(C₆H₅O₂)] or (C₅H₄COOH)Fe(C₅­H₄NHCOOC(CH₃)₃, reveals two independent mol­ecules within the asymmetric unit, and these are joined into discrete dimers by two types of intermolecular hydrogen bonds, viz. O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O. The –COOH and –NHCOOR groups are archetypes for dimer formation via two eight‐membered rings. The O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds [2.656 (3) and 2.663 (3) Å] form a cyclic carboxylic acid dimer motif. Another eight‐membered ring is formed by N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds [2.827 (3) and 2.854 (3) Å] between the N—H group and an O atom of another carbamoyl moiety. The dimers are assembled in a herring‐bone fashion in the bc plane.