Terbocenium: completing a heavy lanthanide metallocenium cation family with an alternative anion abstraction strategy

Area of Science:

• Organometallic Chemistry
• Lanthanide Chemistry
• Coordination Chemistry

Background:

• Heavy lanthanide metallocenium cations with bulky cyclopentadienyl ligands (Cpttt) are of significant interest.
• Previous synthetic routes successfully produced many heavy lanthanide analogues, but terbium remained elusive.
• The incomplete series hindered a comprehensive understanding of the [Ln(Cpttt)2]+ family's properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a synthetic strategy for accessing the previously elusive terbium metallocenium cation, [Tb(Cpttt)2]+.
• To complete the series of heavy lanthanide metallocenium cations [Ln(Cpttt)2]+.
• To provide insights into the synthesis and properties of f-element organometallic compounds.

Main Methods:

• Employed an alternative anion abstraction strategy.
• Utilized specific precursor complexes for terbium.
• Characterization of the synthesized terbium metallocenium cation.

Main Results:

• Successfully synthesized the target [Tb(Cpttt)2]+ cation.
• The new method complements existing halide abstraction techniques.
• The synthesis of [Tb(Cpttt)2]+ completes the heavy [Ln(Cpttt)2]+ family.

Conclusions:

• An effective anion abstraction route has been established for synthesizing terbium metallocenium complexes.
• The completion of the heavy [Ln(Cpttt)2]+ series allows for systematic studies of lanthanide contraction effects.
• This work expands the synthetic toolkit for f-element organometallic chemistry.