Decamethyldizincocene, a stable compound of Zn(I) with a Zn-Zn bond

Irene Resa; Ernesto Carmona; Enrique Gutierrez-Puebla; Angeles Monge

doi:10.1126/science.1101356

Decamethyldizincocene, a stable compound of Zn(I) with a Zn-Zn bond

Science. 2004 Aug 20;305(5687):1136-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1101356.

Authors

Irene Resa¹, Ernesto Carmona, Enrique Gutierrez-Puebla, Angeles Monge

Affiliation

¹ Instituto de Investigaciones Químicas-Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Universidad de Sevilla, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Américo Vespucio 49, 41092 Sevilla, Spain.

PMID: 15326350
DOI: 10.1126/science.1101356

Abstract

Unlike mercury, which has an extensive +1 oxidation state chemistry, zinc usually adopts the +2 oxidation state. Decamethyldizincocene, Zn2(eta5-C5Me5)2, an organometallic compound of Zn(I) formally derived from the dimetallic [Zn-Zn]2+ unit, has been isolated from the low-temperature (-10 degrees C) reaction of Zn(C5Me5)2 and Zn(C2H5)2 in diethyl ether. X-ray studies show that it contains two eclipsed Zn(eta5-C5Me5) fragments with a Zn-Zn distance (+/- standard deviation) of 2.305(+/-3) angstroms, indicative of a metal-metal bonding interaction.