Deamination of 1-aminoethylferrocene and the crystal structure of ethenylferrocene

Ethenylferrocene, C12H12Fe, was an unexpected product of the thermolysis of 1-aminoethylferrocene in a melt reaction with naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid. It was characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction which revealed that the cyclopentadiene rings are slightly staggered and the ethenyl substituent lies approximately in the plane of the substituted cyclopentadiene ring. In the crystal structure C–H⋯π interactions link molecules into parallel rows.