Lanthanide(III) di- and tetra-nuclear complexes supported by a chelating tripodal tris(amidate) ligand

Syntheses, structural, and spectroscopic characterization of multinuclear tris(amidate) lanthanide complexes is described. Addition of K3[N(o-PhNC(O)(t)Bu)3] to LnX3 (LnX3 = LaBr3, CeI3, and NdCl3) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) results in the generation of dinuclear complexes, [Ln(N(o-PhNC(O)(t)Bu)3)(DMF)]2(μ-DMF) (Ln = La (1), Ce (2), Nd(3)), in good yields. Syntheses of tetranuclear complexes, [Ln(N(o-PhNC(O)(t)Bu)3)]4 (Ln = Ce (4), Nd(5)), resulted from protonolysis of Ln[N(SiMe3)2]3 (Ln = Ce, Nd) with N(o-PhNCH(O)(t)Bu)3. In the solid-state, complexes 1-5 exhibit coordination modes of the tripodal tris(amidate) ligand that are unique to the 4f elements and have not been previously observed in transition metal systems.