The adsorbate structure of ferrocene inside [Al(OH)(bdc)](x) (MIL-53): a powder X-ray diffraction study

Ferrocene is strongly adsorbed by the highly porous metal-organic framework compound [Al(OH)(bdc)](x) (MIL-53; bdc = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate). The structure of the crystalline phase {[Fe(eta(5)-C5H5)(2)][Al(OH)(bdc)](2)}(x) was determined by X-ray powder diffraction and Rietveld methods. The ferrocene molecules are arranged in a 1D chain-like fashion and their cyclopentadienyl rings are oriented almost parallel to the O3Al faces of the {AlO6} octahedra without pi-stacking to the bdc.