Etude par diffraction des rayons X sur poudre de la transition ordre-désordre du ferrocène Fe(C₅H₅)₂

About fifty X-ray powder diagrams were recorded in the range 15 to 295 K, by means of a prototype diffractometer and a high-efficiency cryostat, so that a very precise study of the anisotropic structural evolution of ferrocene could be made. The cell parameters and volume have been computed. These parameters present a discontinuity at 164 K; the cell is triclinic below and monoclinic above this temperature. The transition is first order. The principal thermal expansion coefficients have been computed and their evolution, in terms of temperature, has been related to the anisotropic change of the intermolecular contacts in the crystal. Assumptions about the mechanism of transition and about the ferrocene configuration in the ordered phase are expressed.