Mössbauer study of thermal decomposition of the [FeCp(SPh)CO]2 complex and its reaction with the surface of activated silica gel

Thermal decomposition of the [FeCp(SPh)CO]2 complex and its reaction with the surface of activated silica gel were investigated by Mossbauer spectroscopy. A small amount of a complex with properties similar to ferrocene is separated in the first stage of thermal decomposition (120–130°C). The starting carbonyl complex totally disappears in the second stage (165–210°C), and two compounds are present among the products: a derivative of ferrocene and the final product, an x-ray amorphous, iron-containing structure with an ionic-covalent type of chemical bond (CB) and a 25 and 5 wt. % concentration of oxygen and sulfur, respectively. The Mossbauer parameters of this product and the compound formed in the reaction of [FeCp(SPh)CO]2 with the surface of activated silica gel at 4.2–300 K are identical. The analysis of the data suggested that both structures are highly disperse clusters of iron oxide with the structure of an inverted spinel with superparamagnetic properties.