The synthesis of a novel ferrocene based pincer ligand C
5H
5-Fe[C
5H
3(-
![](/images/glyphs/BPR.GIF)
-C
5H
4N)
2] is reported. This pincer ligand was prepared by the Pd-catalyzed reaction of 1,2-diethynylferrocene with 2-iodopyridine. The complex is a
trans-spanning ligand and analogous to 1,2-bis(2-pyridinylethynyl)-4,5-dimethoxybenzene. A series of
trans-coordinated 1:1 or 2:1 complexes (empirical formulae C
51H
37ClCuF
3N
4O
7S and C
23H
18Cl
4N
2O
2Pd) that form from the ligands and (CH
3CN)
2PdCl
2 or Cu(OTf)
2 were obtained. These complexes form 13-membered rings. Structurally these complexes resemble a hexadehydro[14]annulene in which two benzene groups are replaced by pyridine rings and one alkyne group is replaced by the co-ordinated metal. All of the
trans-spanning complexes were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Their molecular and solid-state structures are discussed. The Pd-complexes are of interest as potential high activity catalysts for Sonogashira-type couplings of alkynes to aryl halides. The 1,2-(bis-2′-pyridylethyn-1′-yl)ferrocene, was crystallized with PdCl
2 to obtain a novel organometallic
trans-spanning complex of the formula C
24H
16Cl
2FeN
2Pd that was crystallographically characterized.