A new polymorph of 1-ferrocenyl-3-(3-nitroanilino)propan-1-one.

Recrystallization of the title compound, [Fe(C(5)H(5))(C(14)H(13)N(2)O(3))], from a mixture of n-hexane and dichloromethane gave the new polymorph, denoted (I), which crystallizes in the same space group (P1) as the previously reported structure, denoted (II). The Fe-C distances in (I) range from 2.015 (3) to 2.048 (2) Å and the average value of the C-C bond lengths in the two cyclopentadienyl (Cp) rings is 1.403 (13) Å. As indicated by the smallest C-Cg1-Cg2-C torsion angle of 1.4° (Cg1 and Cg2 are the centroids of the two Cp rings), the orientation of the Cp rings in (I) is more eclipsed than in the case of (II), for which the value was 15.3°. Despite the pronounced conformational similarity between (I) and (II), the formation of self-complementary N-H···O hydrogen-bonded dimers represents the only structural motif common to the two polymorphs. In the extended structure, molecules of (I) utilize C-H···O hydrogen bonds and, unlike (II), an extensive set of intermolecular C-H···π interactions. Fingerprint plots based on Hirshfeld surfaces are used to compare the packing of the two polymorphs.