Novel Tin-Containing Crown Ether Substituted Ferrocenophanes as Redox-Active Hosts for the Ditopic Complexation of Lithium Chloride

The synthesis is reported of the crown ether substituted tin-containing ferrocenophanes fc­(SiMe2CH2)2Sn­(X)­CH2CH­(CH2OC2H4OCH2)2 (1, X = Ph; 2, X = I; 3, X = Cl; 4, X = F) and of the ditopic complex 3·LiCl. The compounds were characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, and cyclic voltammetry. DFT calculations revealed important two-electron stabilization in 3 and 4 due to intramolecular O→Sn coordination that is absent in 2.