The one‐electron oxidation product of a metallocenyl‐terminated cyanine

The 1‐(2,3,4,5,1′,2′,3′,4′‐octa­methyl­ferrocen‐1‐yl)‐3‐(ruth­eno­cen­yl)­allylium cation readily undergoes one‐electron oxidation to a dication in which an octa­methyl­ferrocenium moiety is bridged by a vinyl­ene group to a [(η⁶‐fulvene)(η⁵‐cyclo­penta­dienyl)­ruthenium]⁺ moiety. In the title compound, 1‐(2,3,4,5,1′,2′,3′,4′‐octa­methyl­ferrocen‐1‐yl)‐3‐(ruth­eno­cen­ylidene)prop‐1‐enium(2+) bis­(tetra­fluoro­borate), [Fe­Ru­(C₅H₅)(C₉H₁₃)(C₁₇H₁₉)]­(BF₄)₂, the C—C bond lengths in the bridge (average for two independent mol­ecules) are, starting from the ipso octa­methyl­ferrocenium carbon and ending at the exo carbon of the coordinated fulvene, 1.455 (6), 1.344 (3) and 1.449 (8) Å, indicating a localized electronic structure.