Racemo-selective formation of ansa-zirconocene in the reaction of dimethylbis(5-phenyl-5,6-dihydroindeno[2,1-b]indol-6-yl)silane dilithium salt with ZrCl4: X-ray and DFT argumentation for stereocontrol

The reaction of bis[(5a,6,6a,10a,10b-η)-5-phenyl-5,6-dihydroindeno[2,1-b]indol-6-yl]dimethylsilane dilithium salt with ZrCl₄ results in the formation of zirconium ansa-complex with >95% rac-selectivity, presumably due to specific crystal structure of the dilithium salt, which was established by X-ray diffraction.