Preparative and spectroscopic features of ferricenium tetrachloroferrate(III). Interconversion to diferricenium ?-oxo-bis[trichloroferrate(III)]

Ferricenium tetrachloroferrate(III)(1), one of the more frequently cited ferricenium salts, has recently attracted biomedical interest because of its pronounced antineoplastic activity against Ehrlich ascites murine tumor. In this paper, synthetic methods are reinvestigated in an effort to prepare pure(1) free from a common contaminant, diferriceniumμ-oxo-bis(trichloroferrate)(3). The oxodiferrate, or mixtures of this salt with(1), can readily be converted into pure(1) under acidic conditions. Conversely, dimerization of(1) with participation of water to give the oxodiferrate(3) is brought about by recrystallization of the former from moist acetonitrile/methanol in the presence of base; thi…