Unusual ladder-like supramolecular arrangement by cooperative effect of bifurcated O–H⋯O hydrogen bonding in crystals of racemic 4-ferrocenylbutan-1,2-diol

Abstract

A new short synthetic approach to 4-ferrocenebutan-1,2-diol (15) is described. In solution, both intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding are observed, the solid state structure is characterised by intermolecular hydrogen bonding only. In the solid state, the bifurcated cooperative hydrogen bonding not only leads to a dimeric structure but on a supramolecular level gives rise to a secondary duplex staircase ladder.