Two novel ferrocenyl dipeptide-like compounds generated via the Ugi four-component reaction.

The Ugi four-component reaction, a powerful method for the synthesis of diverse dipeptide-like derivatives in combinatorial chemistry, was used to synthesize (S)-1'-{N-[1-(anthracen-9-yl)-2-(tert-butylamino)-2-oxoethyl]-N-(4-methoxyphenyl)carbamoyl}ferrocene-1-carboxylic acid dichloromethane disolvate, [Fe(C6H5O2)(C33H31N2O3)]·2CH2Cl2, (I), and (S)-2-(anthracen-9-yl)-N-tert-butyl-2-[N-(4-methylphenyl)ferrocenylformamido]acetamide, [Fe(C5H5)(C33H31N2O2)], (II). They adopt broadly similar molecular conformations, with near-eclipsed cyclopentadienyl rings and near-perpendicular amide planes in their dipeptide-like chains, one of which is almost coplanar with its attached cyclopentadienyl ring but perpendicular to the aromatic ring bound to the N atom. In the supramolecular structure of (I), a two-dimensional network is constructed based on molecular dimers and a combination of intermolecular O-H···O, N-H···O and C-H···O hydrogen bonds, forming R2(2)(11), R2(2)(16), R2(2)(22) and C(9) motifs. These two-dimensional networks are connected by C-H···O and C-H···Cl contacts to create a three-dimensional framework, where one dichloromethane solvent molecule acts as a bridge between two neighbouring networks. In the packing of (II), classical hydrogen bonds are absent and an infinite one-dimensional chain is generated via a combination of C-H···O hydrogen bonds and C-H···π interactions, producing a C(7) motif. This work describes a simple synthesis and the supramolecuar structures of ferrocenyl dipeptide-like compounds and is significant in the development of redox-active receptors.