Triethylammonium hexa-μ- ₂-acetato-κ ¹² O:O′-diacetato-κ ²O-aqua-μ ₃-oxido- triferrate(III) toluene monosolvate

The title compound, (C ₆H ₁₆N)[Fe ₃(CH ₃CO ₂) ₈O(H ₂O)]·C ₇H ₈, was serendipitously crystallized from a reaction of disilanol with iron(II) acetate. The trinuclear acetatoferrate(III) anion has a triethyl-ammonium cation as the counterion. The three Fe atoms lie on the vertices of a regular triangle and are octa-hedrally coordinated. The complete coordination of the anion includes shared ligands among the three metal ions: a central tribridging O atom and six bidentate bridging acetyl groups. The six-coordinations of two of the metal ions are completed by a monodentate acetate ligand, whereas that of the third metal ion is completed by a water molecule. The uncoordinated triethyl-ammonium cation is involved in N - H⋯O hydrogen bonding to a singly coordinated acetyl group. The coordinated aqua molecule is involved in bifurcated O - H⋯O hydrogen bonding. C - H⋯O interactions are also observed. The toluene solvent molecule is disordered over two sets of sites in a 0.609 (11):0.391 (11) ratio.