2,4,6-Tris(1′-phenyl­thio-1-ferrocenyl)­boroxin

The synthesis of 1′-phenyl­thio-1-ferroceneboronic acid resulted in its trimerization with the loss of three mol­ecules of water to form crystalline 2,4,6-tris(1′-phenyl­thio-1-ferro­cen­yl)­boroxin, C₄₈H₃₉B₃Fe₃O₃S₃ or [Fe₃(C₁₅H₁₂B₃O₃)(C₁₁H₉S)₃]. The asymmetric unit contains two boroxin mol­ecules conjugated with the attached cyclo­penta­dienyl rings to form an aromatic ring. The cyclo­penta­dienyl rings of five of the six ferrocenes are in an eclipsed conformation; the cyclo­penta­dienyl rings of the other ferrocene are in the gauche form. Hydro­lysis of the boroxin ring with aqueous base apparently is needed to produce the corresponding boronic acid required in a Suzuki coupling reaction.