The mesoporous silicates MCM-41 and FSM-16 have been functionalized with a range offerrocenyl groups. The general synthetic methodology involves either reaction of the strained[1]ferrocenophanes [Fe(
-C
5R
4)
2SiMe
2] (R = H or Me), [Fe(
-C
9Me
6)(
-C
5H
4)SiMe
2], or theferrocenyl carbocation [Fe(
-C
5Me
5)(
-C
5Me
4CH
2)]
+ with the dehydrated mesoporous silicate.The materials have been extensively characterized by (inter alia) solid-state
13C and
29SiNMR and Fe K-edge EXAFS spectroscopy. The reaction of either [Fe(
-C
5H
4)
2SiMe
2] or [Fe(
-C
5Me
4)
2SiMe
2] with MCM-41 affords both single ferrocenyl and short chain oligo(ferrocenyl)units grafted to the silicate walls of the mesopores. In contrast, the reaction of [Fe(
-C
9Me
5)(
-C
5H
4)SiMe
2] with MCM-41 gives only a single type of ferrocenyl group attached tothe pore walls via a regiospecific ring-opening reaction in which the Si-(C
5H
4) bond is brokenin preference to the Si-(C
9Me
6) bond.