Crystal structure of bis-{μ2-[(2-imino-cyclo-pentyl-idene)methyl-idene]aza-nido-κ(2) N:N'}bis-[(η(5)-penta-methyl-cyclo-penta-dien-yl)zirconium(IV)] hexane monosolvate.

The title compound, [Zr2(C10H15)4(C6H6N2)2]·C6H14, was obtained by the stoichiometric reaction of adipo-nitrile with [Zr(C10H15)2(η(2)-Me3SiC2SiMe3)]. Intra-molecular nitrile-nitrile couplings and deprotonation of the substrate produced the (1-imino-2-enimino)-cyclo-pentane ligand, which functions as a five-membered bridge between the two metal atoms. The Zr(IV) atom exhibits a distorted tetra-hedral coordination sphere defined by two penta-methyl-cyclo-penta-dienyl ligands, by the imino unit of one (1-imino-2-enimino)-cyclo-pentane and by the enimino unit of the second (1-imino-2-enimino)-cyclo-pentane. The cyclo-pentane ring of the ligand shows an envelope conformation. The asymmetric unit contains one half of the complex and one half of the hexane solvent mol-ecule, both being completed by the application of inversion symmetry. One of the penta-methyl-cyclo-penta-dienyl ligands is disordered over two sets of sites with a refined occupancy ratio of 0.8111 (3):0.189 (3). In the crystal, the complex mol-ecules are packed into rods extending along [100], with the solvent mol-ecules located in between. The rods are arranged in a distorted hexa-gonal packing.