Syntheses and crystal structures of a ferrocene-containing enaminone and its copper complex

A new ferrocene-containing enaminone [C5H5FeC5H4C(O)CH=C-(NHAr)CH3] (HL, Ar = 2-CH3OC6H4) and its copper(II) complex (I, L2Cu) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, H-1 NMR, IR, UV and X-ray crystallography. The enaminone HL in the solid state exists as a mixture of two rotation-constrained conformers. Complex I is planar in which the enaminone acts as a monoanionic bidentate ligand and both ferrocenyl groups are anti to each other. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.