Two ferrocenyl and trimethylsilyl substituted cyanohydrin ethers have been prepared by the addition of trimethysilyl cyanide to two acetyl-substituted ferrocenes: 1-(1-cyano-1-trimethylsilyloxyethyl)- ferrocene (1) and 1,1'-bis(1-cyano-1-trimethylsilyloxyethyl)ferrocene (2). The structures of these two compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, ¹H NMR and X-ray crystallography. Crystal data: compound 1, orthorhombic Pbca, a＝1.1995 nm, b＝1.2441 nm, c＝2.2183 nm, Z＝8, R₁＝0.0456, wR₂＝0.0880; compound 2, orthorhombic Pna2(1), a＝2.0715 nm, b＝0.6440 nm, c＝1.8411 nm, Z＝4, R₁＝0.0485, wR₂＝0.0866. Crystal structures showed that there was super conjugation in both compounds.

Key words: ferrocenyl and trimethylsilyl substituted cyanohydrin ether, synthesis, crystal structure