Coordination complexes of chromium(0) with a series of 1,3-diphenyl-6-aryl­fulvenes

The synthesis and structural properties of a series of chromium tricarbonyl ‘piano-stool’ complexes bearing substituted penta­fulvene ligands were studied. The complexes, tricarbon­yl(1,3,6-tri­phenyl­fulvene)chromium(0) benz­ene hemisolvate, [Cr(C(24)H(18))(CO)(3)]·0.5C(6)H(6) (I), tricarbon­yl[1,3-di­phen­yl-6-(3-vinyl­phen­yl)fulvene]chromium(0), [Cr(C(26)H(20))(CO)(3)] (II), and tricarbon­yl[1,3-diphenyl-6-(pyren-1-yl)fulvene]chromium(0), [Cr(C(34)H(22))(CO)(3)] (III), each have a distorted octa­hedral geometry, with the fulvene coordinated in a π–η(2):π–η(2:)π–η(2) fashion. Significant deviation of the exocyclic fulvene double bond from the cyclo­penta­diene plane accompanies coordination. Evidence of non-covalent π–π inter­actions was observed in both (I) and (III), with centroid-to-centroid distances ranging from 3.330 (8) to 3.494 (8) Å.