Ferrocene-Based Trimethylsilyl Chalcogenide Reagents for the Assembly of Functionalized Metal-Chalcogen Architectures

The ferrocene-based trimethylsilyl chalcogenide reagents [FcC(O)OCH2CH2ESiMe3] (2, E= S, 3 E = Se, Fc = [Fe(eta(5)-C5H5)(eta(5)-C5H4)]) and [FcC(O)NHCH2CH2SSiMe3] (8b) have been synthesized. The reagents were reacted with solubilized transition-metal acetates to yield functionalized complexes and clusters, including the spherical nanocluster [Ag14S-{SCH2CH2O(O)CFc)}(12)(PPh3)(6)] (11, PPh3 = triphenylphosphine). The complexes were characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The electrochemical behavior of the complexes was explored by cyclic voltammetry and each displayed a single quasi-reversible redox wave with some adsorption to the electrode surface.