Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Organometallic chemistry

Fused ferrocenes come full circle

Nature Chemistry volume 8, pages 819–820 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Chemists have long been fascinated by electron delocalization, from both a fundamental and applied perspective. Macrocyclic oligomers containing fused ferrocenes provide a new structural framework — containing strongly interacting metal centres — that is capable of supporting substantial charge delocalization.

Although the empirical formula of benzene had been known for many years, the cyclic structure of this prototypical aromatic hydrocarbon was not realised until 1865, when Kekulé proposed an alternating arrangement of single and double bonds within a six-carbon ring. Pauling's resonance theory subsequently described the delocalization of electrons from the three filled π orbitals around the entire ring, satisfying Hückel's aromatic requirement of (4n+2)π electrons. The extensive delocalization of electrons in the benzene molecule gives rise to a number of characteristic and unusual properties: planarity, enhanced stability, aromatic ring currents, and the ability to participate in π–π stacking.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Electron delocalization in cyclic and acyclic multinuclear complexes.

References

  1. Demadis, K. D., Hartshorn, C. M. & Meyer, T. J. Chem. Rev. 101, 2655–2686 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Creutz, C. & Taube, H. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 91, 3988–3989 (1969).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Morrison, W. H. & Hendrickson, D. N. Inorg. Chem. 14, 2331–2346 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Holliday, B. J. & Swager, T. M. Chem. Commun. 23–36 (2005).

  5. Whittell, G. R., Hager, M. D., Schubert, U. S. & Manners, I. Nature Mater. 10, 176–188 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Cowan, D. O. et al. J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun. 329–330 (1973).

  7. LeVanda, C. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 98, 3181–3187 (1976).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Herbert, D. E. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131, 14958–14968 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Inkpen, M. S. et al. Nature Chem. http://doi.org/bmnp (2016).

  10. Cowan, D. O. & Levanda, C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 94, 9271–9272 (1972).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Mueller-Westerhoff, U. T. & Eilbracht, P. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 94, 9272–9274 (1972).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Li, C. S. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 119, 1609–1618 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Park, P., Lough, A. J. & Foucher, D. A. Macromolecules 35, 3810–3818 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rebecca A. Musgrave and Ian Manners are in the School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK,

    Rebecca A. Musgrave & Ian Manners

Authors
  1. Rebecca A. Musgrave
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ian Manners
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ian Manners.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Musgrave, R., Manners, I. Fused ferrocenes come full circle. Nature Chem 8, 819–820 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2584

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2584

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing