ferrocene

American

[fer-uh-seen] / ˈfɛr əˌsin /

noun

Chemistry.

Also called dicyclopentadienyliron. an orange, crystalline, water-insoluble coordination compound, (C 5 H5 ) 2 Fe, having a camphorlike odor: used chiefly as an antiknock agent for gasoline and as a catalyst.
Also called dicyclopentadienyl metal. any of a class of analogous compounds containing a metal other than iron, as nickel or osmium.

ferrocene British

/ ˈfɛrəʊˌsiːn /

noun

a reddish-orange insoluble crystalline compound. Its molecules have an iron atom sandwiched between two cyclopentadiene rings. Formula: Fe(C 5 H 5 ) 2

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of ferrocene

First recorded in 1950–55; ferro- + c(yclopentadi)ene

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

ferrocene

Last year, the group reported creating unusual 20 electron ferrocene derivatives.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 2026

One of the best known metallocenes is ferrocene, which helped earn its discoverers the 1973 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 2026

The researchers used ferrocene and tetrathiafulvalene as electron donor molecules, which were absorbed through the windows of the nanotube crystals.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2024

Technically, oxidizing the ferrocene enabled the binding of a Au0 to an Fe3+ center.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 5, 2024

In this state, they discovered that ferrocene could bind to the gold electrodes used to connect the molecule to the external circuitry.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 5, 2024

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023