Coordination complexes of chromium(0) with a series of 1,3-diphenyl-6-arylfulvenes

The synthesis and structural properties of a series of chromium tricarbonyl `piano-stool' complexes bearing substituted pentafulvene ligands were studied. The complexes, tricarbonyl(1,3,6-triphenylfulvene)chromium(0) benzene hemisolvate, [Cr(C24H18)(CO)3]·0.5C6H6 (I), tricarbonyl[1,3-diphenyl-6-(3-vinylphenyl)fulvene]chromium(0), [Cr(C26H20)(CO)3] (II), and tricarbonyl[1,3-diphenyl-6-(pyren-1-yl)fulvene]chromium(0), [Cr(C34H22)(CO)3] (III), each have a distorted octahedral geometry, with the fulvene coordinated in a π–η2:π–η2:π–η2 fashion. Significant deviation of the exocyclic fulvene double bond from the cyclopentadiene plane accompanies coordination. Evidence of non-covalent π–π interactions was observed in both (I) and (III), with centroid-to-centroid distances ranging from 3.330 (8) to 3.494 (8) Å