Ruthenocene consists of a ruthenium ion sandwiched in between two cyclopentadienyl rings. It features ruthenium centre bound symmetrically to the planes of two cyclopentadienyl rings. It is closely related to the isoelectronic ferrocene.
In contrast to ferrocene, wherein the cyclopentadienyl rings are in a staggered conformation, those of ruthenocene crystallise with an eclipsed conformation. This difference is due to the larger ionic radius of ruthenium, which increases the distance between the cyclopentadienyl rings, decreasing steric interactions and allowing an eclipsed conformation to prevail. In solution, these rings rotate with a very low barrier.
Preparation
Ruthenocene was first synthesized in 1952 by Geoffrey Wilkinson, a Nobel laureate who had collaborated in assigning the structure of ferrocene only a year earlier.[2] Originally, ruthenocene was prepared by the reaction of ruthenium trisacetylacetonate with excess of cyclopentadienylmagnesium bromide.[2]
Ruthenocene typically oxidises via two electron change, instead of one.[5] With weakly coordinating anions as electrolyte, the oxidation proceeds via a 1e step.[6]
Ruthenocene has been investigated as a photoinitiator for polymerization reactions.[7]
^ abWilkinson, G. (1952). "The Preparation and Some Properties of Ruthenocene and Ruthenicinium Salts". J. Am. Chem. Soc.74 (23): 6146–6147. doi:10.1021/ja01143a538.
^Bublitz, D. E; McEwen, W. E.; Kleinberg, J. (1961). "Ruthenocene". Organic Syntheses. 41: 96. doi:10.15227/orgsyn.041.0096.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Smith, T. P; Taube, H.; Bino, A.; Cohen, S. (1984). "Reactivity of Haloruthenocene(IV) complexes". Inorg. Chem.23 (13): 1943. doi:10.1021/ic00181a030.
^Geiger, W. E. and Barrière, F., "Organometallic Electrochemistry Based on Electrolytes Containing Weakly-Coordinating Fluoroarylborate Anions", Accounts of Chemical Research, 2010. doi:10.1021/ar1000023.
^Cynthia T. Sanderson, Bentley J. Palmer, Alan Morgan, Michael Murphy, Richard A. Dluhy, Todd Mize, I. Jonathan Amster, and Charles Kutal "Classical Metallocenes as Photoinitiators for the Anionic Polymerization of an Alkyl 2-Cyanoacrylate" Macromolecules 2002, volume 35, pp. 9648-9652.doi:10.1021/ma0212238