trans-Carbonylchloridobis(ferrocenyldiphenylphosphane-κP)rhodium(I) dichloromethane monosolvate and trans-carbonylchloridobis(ferrocenyldiphenylphosphane-κP)iridium(I) dichloromethane monosolvate.

The isomorphous crystal structures of the title compounds, [Fe(2)M(C(5)H(5))(2)(C(17)H(14)P)Cl(CO)]·CH(2)Cl(2) or trans-[MCl(CO)(PPh(2)Fc)(2)]·CH(2)Cl(2) (M = Rh or Ir, and Fc is ferrocenyl), are reported. The data collection for M = Rh was performed at 293 (2) K, while the M = Ir data were collected at 160 (2) K. The compounds crystallize with two independent half-molecules in the asymmetric unit, both occupying inversion centres, and are accompanied by a single dichloromethane molecule on a general position. Due to the symmetry, there is 0.50/0.50 disorder present in the chloride and carbonyl positions. One molecule in each structure also has a second type of disorder in the chloride and carbonyl positions, which was refined over another two positions of equal distribution. The steric impact of the bulky PPh(2)Fc ligands was evaluated using the Tolman cone-angle model, resulting in an average value of 172° for the four molecules in both structures.