Abstract
As part of a study of interactions between metallocenes, held so that two cyclopentadienyl rings are constrained to be proximate and facing one another, 1,8-diruthenocenylnaphthalene (lb) has been prepared and its crystal structure has been determined. This structure is shown to be close to that of 1,8-di-
ferrocenylnaphthalene (la) reported earlier, especially in respect to the dihedral angle between the substituted cyclopentadienyl and naphthalene ring planes and the splay angle between the two substituted cyclo- pentadienyl rings. Both of these distortions are significantly diminished in the monocation derived from
la, suggesting that there is a significant decrease in electron density on the cyclopentadienyl rings on oxidation of ferrocene to a ferricenium cation, consistent with theoretical analyses.