Ferrocene
Synonyms: BIS(CYCLOPENTADIEN)IRON;BIS(CYCLOPENTADIENYL)IRON;BIS(CYCLOPENTADIENYL)IRON(+2);FERROCENE;IRON DICYCLOPENTADIENYL;di-2,4-cyclopentadien-1-yliron;DICYCLOPENTADIENYLIRON;DICYCLOPENTADIENYLIRON(II)
CAS: 102-54-5
MF: C10H10Fe
MW: 186.03
EINECS: 203-039-3
Melting point 172-174 °C(lit.)
Boiling point 249 °C(lit.)
density 1.490
vapor pressure 0.03 mm Hg ( 40 °C)
Fp 100°C
storage temp. Flammables area
Water Solubility practically insoluble
Sensitive Air & Moisture Sensitive
Merck 14,4037
Sublimation 100 oC
Stability: Stable at room temperature. Incompatible with strong oxidizing agents. Highly flammable.
Chemical Properties It is an orange needles like crystal with its melting point being 172.5-173 ℃. It undergoes sublimation at temperature higher than 100 ℃. Its boiling point is 249 ℃. It is soluble in dilute nitric acid, concentrated sulfuric acid, benzene, ether, petroleum ether and tetrahydrofuran. It can generate bluish fluorescence-containing deep red solution in dilute nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid. It is insoluble in water, 10% sodium hydroxide and hot concentrated hydrochloric acid. In the boiling solution of these solvents, ferrocene is neither dissolved nor decomposed. It can be evaporated together with water vapor. It has a smell similar to camphor and is stable in air. It has a strong property of UV absorbing and has great thermostability which can withstand the heating at a temperature as high as 470 ℃.
Uses Ferrocene can be used as the additives of rocket fuel, the antiknock agent of gasoline and the curing agent of rubber and silicone resin as well as the ultraviolet absorber. The Vinyl derivative of ferrocene can be subject to ethylenic polymerization to obtain the metal-containing polymers of carbon chain skeleton which can be used as the outer coating of spacecraft. It has been found early regarding the smoke abatement effect and combustion effect of ferrocene. No matter whether being supplied in solid fuel, liquid fuel or gas fuel, it can always exert this kind of effect and this effect is more significant especially for hydrocarbons with smoke upon burning. Supplement it into the gasoline has a very good anti-hunt effect. However, due to the deposition of the iron oxide in park plug which can negatively affect ignition, its application is limited, therefore, some people also apply de-iron mixture in order to reduce the deposition phenomenon of iron. Supplement of ferrocene to the kerosene or diesel oil, due to the absence of ignition device in the engine, will have fewer adverse effects on it. In addition to the smoke abatement and combustion facilitating effect in the combustion, it also has effect of promoting the conversion of carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide. In addition, it can improve the heat of combustion and increase power efficiency to achieve the effects of energy saving and air pollution reduction. Supplement of ferrocene to the boiler fuel oil can reduce tobacco production and nozzle deposition. Supplement of 0.1% ferrocene in diesel can remove smoke by 30-70%, save fuel by 10-14%, and increase the power by 10%. There are even many more reports regarding the application of ferrocene in solid fuel of rocket fuel. Moreover, there are even cases regarding supplying it in pulverized coal for smoke-reduction agent. Upon applying the polymer water as fuel, supplement of ferrocene can reduce the smoke by several times. It can also be used as the smoke-reducing additive. In addition to the above applications, ferrocene also has other applications. When used as iron fertilizer, it can facilitate the absorption of plants on iron and increase the iron content of crops. Moreover, its derivatives can be used as pesticides. Ferrocene also has a lot of applications in industry and organic synthesis. For example, its derivatives can be used as the antioxidant of rubber or polyethylene, the stabilizer of polyurea ester, the catalyst of isobutene spasm methylation, the decomposition catalyst of polymer peroxide, and for increasing the yield of para-chlorotoluene produced during the process of chlorination of toluene. In other areas, it can also be used as anti-load additive of lubricants as well as the promoting agent of abrasive materials.
It can be used as catalyst and the antiknock additive of gasoline as well as energy-saving additives for combustion promotion and smoke removal; it can be applied to various kinds of fuels such as diesel, gasoline, heavy oil and coal. Supplement of 0.1% ferrocene into diesel can save fuel by 10-14%, increase the efficiency by 10-13%, and reduce the degree of smoke in exhaust by 30-80 ‰. In addition, addition of 0.3 ‰ to the heavy oil and addition of 0.2% ferrocene to coal can both decrease the fuel consumption rate while the degree of smoke is also reduced by 30%.
Ferrocene is a kind of sandwich-containing metal compound. Ferrocene and its derivatives, because of their own characteristics such as hydrophobicity, bio-oxidability, aroma, stability, low resistance, biological activity, has a wide range of application such as catalyst, the antiknock additive of gasoline, high-temperature lubricant, the intermediates of high-temperature polymer and UV absorber.