Novel zinc(II) coordination polymers constructed from ferrocenyl carboxylate ligands

Two novel ferrocene-containing Zn(II) coordination polymers, [Zn{mu(2)-OOCCH=(CH3) CFc}(2)](n) [1, Fc = (eta(5)-C5H5) Fe(eta(5)-C5H4)] and {[Zn-2{mu(2)-OOCCH=(CH3) CFc}(4)(bpa)] . 2MeOH}(n) [2, bpa = 1,2-bis (4-pyridyl) ethane], have been prepared. The two polymers have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The Zn(II) ions in polymer 1 are bridged by mu(2)-coordinated FcC(CH3)=CHCOO- anions, forming an infinite [Zn(mu(2)-OOCH=(CH3) CFc}(2)](n) chain. Polymer 2 is constructed from paddle-wheel shaped [Zn-2{mu(2)-OOCCH=(CH3) CFc}(4)] building units. The dimeric tetrabridged cores are connected by organic bridging ligands, leading to a linear [Zn-2{mu(2)-OOCCH=(CH3) CFc}(4)(bpa)](n) chain. To the best of our knowledge, 2 is the first example of a Zn(II) polymer built up by ferrocene-based paddle-wheel building units. The electrochemical properties of both polymers were also investigated.