Structure‐Resonance Valence Bond Theory for Ferrocenes and Ferrocenylalkyl Cations

William C. Herndon*, Israel Agranat

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Structure‐resonance theory can be used to derive charge distributions and bond orders in ferrocenes, open ferrocenes and α‐ferrocenylalkyl cations. These species are of interest because they are unusually accessible and stable and understanding the electronic origin of this stabilization would aid in developing bonding models for organometallic systems. The methods for carrying out the calculations will be outlined. They involve shortcuts and algorithms for counting structures. The choice of structure basis, limited to conventional principal resonance structures, will be discussed. Charges and bond orders will be compared with NMR chemical shift and X‐ray data. The unusual stabilities of the ions and the role of the metal in stabilizing positive charge will be understandable within the conventional ideas of structural organic chemistry and resonance theory. These metal‐organic systems are highly delocalized and consequently resonance stabilized to a significant degree. They can be characterized as three‐dimensional aromatic compounds.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)66-71
Number of pages6
JournalIsrael Journal of Chemistry
Volume23
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1983

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Structure‐Resonance Valence Bond Theory for Ferrocenes and Ferrocenylalkyl Cations'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this