DFT calculations of the binding energy of metallocenes

As recently reported by Klopper and Lüthi, there is a discrepancy between experiment and high-level quantum chemical calculations as to the value of the heterolytic metal–ligand bond disruption enthalpy of ferrocene. Indeed their ab initio calculations lead to a best estimate of 655 kcal/mol, whereas the experimental value is 635 kcal/mol. We report here results obtained using density functional theory. In addition to ferrocene, other metallocenes such as vanadocene, manganocene, nickelocene and ruthenocene, have also been investigated. Gradient-based corrections are crucial for a quantitative description of bond dissociation, our best estimate for ferrocene being 663 kcal/mol.