A novel, convenient access to acylferrocenes: acylation of ferrocene with acyl chlorides in the presence of zinc oxide

A convenient access to acylferrocenes was reported. In the presence of ZnO, ferrocene reacted with carboxylic acid chlorides in ethylene chloride or under solvent-free condition to furnish acylferrocenes in up to 96% isolated yield. Mechanism for the acylation has also been suggested based on the React IR and ES-MS observation. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.