A double-stranded 1D-coordination polymer assembled using the tetravergent ligand 1,1′-bis(4,2′:6′,4″-terpyridin-4′-yl)ferrocene

1,1′-Bis(4,2′:6′,4″-terpyridin-4′-yl)ferrocene (1) reacts with ZnCl2 to yield a double-stranded 1D-coordination polymer [{Zn2(1)Cl4}∙3CHCl3]n. The 1,1′-functionalized ferrocene core adopts a cisoid-conformation, giving rise to a folded conformation for 1 and a double-stranded 1D-polymer chain. This contrasts with previously reported multi-stranded chains supported by 4,2′:6′,4″-terpyridine ligands in which the multiple-nature of the chain arises from multinuclear metal nodes.