SYNTHESIS AND STRUCTURE OF A DIIRON COMPLEX WITH A HIGHLY BENT DITHIOLENE BRIDGE, CP-ASTERISK(2)FE(2)(CO)(S2C2(CO(2)ME)(2)) (CP-ASTERISK=ETA(5)-C(5)ME(5))

A novel dithiolene-bridged diiron complex Cp:Fe-2(2)(CO){S2C2(CO(2)Me )(2)} (1) was synthesized by the reaction of CpFe-2(2)(CO)4 with elem ental sulfur and dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate in refluxing xylene. X-ray crystal structure analysis reveals that the dithiolene ligand in 1 bridges the CpFe and Cp*Fe(CO) fragments unsymmetrically and that the dithiolene chelate ring is highly bent along the S-S axis.