Crystal structure of bis{μ2-[(2-iminocyclopentylidene)methylidene]azanido-κ2N:N′}bis[(η5-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium(IV)] hexane monosolvate

Abstract

The title compound, [Zr2(C10H15)4(C6H6N2)2]·C6H14, was obtained by the stoichiometric reaction of adiponitrile with [Zr(C10H15)2(η2-Me3SiC2SiMe3)]. Intramolecular nitrile–nitrile couplings and deprotonation of the substrate produced the (1-imino-2-enimino)cyclopentane ligand, which functions as a five-membered bridge between the two metal atoms. The ZrIVatom exhibits a distorted tetrahedral coordination sphere defined by two pentamethylcyclopentadienyl ligands, by the imino unit of one (1-imino-2-enimino)cyclopentane and by the enimino unit of the second (1-imino-2-enimino)cyclopentane. The cyclopentane ring of the ligand shows an envelope conformation. The asymmetric unit contains one half of the complex and one half of the hexane solvent molecule, both being completed by the application of inversion symmetry. One of the pentamethylcyclopentadienyl ligands is disordered over two sets of sites with a refined occupancy ratio of 0.8111 (3):0.189 (3). In the crystal, the complex molecules are packed into rods extending along [100], with the solvent molecules located in between. The rods are arranged in a distorted hexagonal packing.