Products of hydrolysis of (ferrocenylmethyl)trimethylammonium iodide: Synthesis of hydroxymethylferrocene and bis(ferrocenylmethyl) ether

Abstract The attempted coupling of (ferrocenylmethyl)trimethylammonium iodide ( 1 ) with 1,4,7-(triformyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane ( 2 ) in water led to the formation of the expected compound 1-(ferrocenemethyl)-4,7,10-(triformyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane ( 3 ). In addition, hydrolysis of the ferrocenyl precursor 1 led to the formation of two other known compounds, hydroxymethylferrocene ( 4 ) and bis(ferrocenylmethyl) ether ( 5 ). An X-ray crystal structure determination of 4 revealed the presence of H-bonding between the hydroxyl groups of one molecule of 4 and the oxygen atom of an adjacent molecule resulting in a left-handed helical chain of molecules lying along the b -axis direction. The O⋯O distances are significantly shorter than those found in previously reported structures of hydroxymethylferrocene derivatives indicative of moderate strength H-bonding interactions. In the structure of 5 , the orientation of the ferrocenyl groups are staggered relative to a vector comprising the two carbons of the C–O–C linker.