Trichlorido(tetrahydrofuran){(1,2,3,3a,7a-η)-1-[2-(1-trimethylsilyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl-κN3)-1-methylpropyl]indenyl}zirconium(IV)

The title compound, [ZrCl3(C19H25N2Si)(C4H8O)], was prepared from bis(N,N-dimethylamido-κN)(2-{2-[(1,2,3,3a,7a-η)-indenyl]-2-methylpropyl}-1H-imidazolido-κN1)zirconium(IV) [(C16H16N2)Zr(NMe2)] by reaction with excess Me3SiCl in tetrahydrofuran (THF) at elevated temperature. The crystal studied contained a minor non-merohedral twin contaminant [6.3 (4)%] which was taken into account during the refinement. The coordination polyhedron of the ZrIV atom is a distorted octahedron [assuming that the five-membered ring of the indenyl group (Cp) occupies one coordination site], with the Cp group and a THF O atom at the apical positions and the three Cl and ligating N atoms at the equatorial positions. The Zr, Si and the methylene C atoms deviate noticeably from the imidazole ring plane [by 0.197 (5), 0.207 (5) and 0.119 (6) , respectively]. The THF ligand adopts an envelope conformation.