Plumbocene is an organometallic compound of lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

. It is a member of the class of metallocene

Metallocene

A metallocene is a compound typically consisting of two cyclopentadienyl anions bound to a metal center in the oxidation state II, with the resulting general formula 2M. Closely related to the metallocenes are the metallocene derivatives, e.g. titanocene dichloride, vanadocene dichloride...

s. It is soluble in benzene

Benzene

Benzene is an organic chemical compound. It is composed of 6 carbon atoms in a ring, with 1 hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom, with the molecular formula C6H6....

, acetone

Acetone

Acetone is the organic compound with the formula 2CO, a colorless, mobile, flammable liquid, the simplest example of the ketones.Acetone is miscible with water and serves as an important solvent in its own right, typically as the solvent of choice for cleaning purposes in the laboratory...

, ether

Ether

Ethers are a class of organic compounds that contain an ether group — an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups — of general formula R–O–R'. A typical example is the solvent and anesthetic diethyl ether, commonly referred to simply as "ether"...

, and petroleum ether, and insoluble in water. Plumbocene is stable in cold water.

Plumbocene is not commercially available. It may be synthesized by the reaction of sodium cyclopentadienide

Sodium cyclopentadienide

Sodium cyclopentadienide is an organosodium compound with the formula C5H5Na. The compound is often abbreviated as NaCp or CpNa, where Cp− is the cyclopentadienide anion. Cp is also used as an abbreviation for the cyclopentadienyl ligand in coordination chemistry.-Preparation:Sodium...

 with a lead(II) source such as lead(II) nitrate

Lead(II) nitrate

Lead nitrate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Pb2. It commonly occurs as a colourless crystal or white powder and, unlike most other lead salts, is soluble in water....

 or lead(II) iodide

Lead(II) iodide

Lead iodide or plumbous iodide is a bright yellow solid at room temperature, that reversibly becomes brick red by heating. In its crystalline form it is used as a detector material for high energy photons including x-rays and gamma rays....

.

The decamethyl analog, Cp*₂Pb, and the half-sandwich complexes, Cp*PbBF₄ and Cp*PbCl, are known as well.