A chiral concave-bound cyclopentadienyl iron complex of sumanene

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2009;48(9):1640-3. doi: 10.1002/anie.200805567.

Abstract

Great bowls of fire: The rotation of the cyclopentadienyl (Cp) ring is restricted in two concave-bound monoalkyl-substituted [CpFe(eta(6)-sumanene)](+) "pi-bowl" complexes (see picture). The asymmetric stacking of atropisomers was observed with a MeCpFe complex in the solid state and the chiral (S)-sBuCpFe complex showed magnetic and optical desymmetrization of the sumanene ligand, which is the first example of a chiral complex of a pi-bowl ligand.