Scientific illustration

Computer generated image of Ferrocene molecule built in 3ds Max. The discovery and characterisation of the structure of ferrocene, Fe(C5H5)2 in the early 1950's, led to an explosion of interest in d-block metal carbon bonds and brought about development and the now flourishing study of organometallic chemistry. In 1951 ferrocene was first prepared. It was found to be unusually stable, and its structure and bonding defied conventional bonding descriptions. The sandwich structure of ferrocene was first predicted from its IR and NMR and then confirmed by X-ray crystallography by 1954.