CS₂ Reductive Coupling to Acetylenedithiolate by a Dinuclear Ytterbium(II) Complex

The activation of CS₂ is of interest in a broad range of fields and, more particularly, in the context of creating new C-C bonds. The reaction of the dinuclear ytterbium(II) complex [Yb₂ L₄ ], 1, [L=(OtBu)₃ SiO^- ] with carbon disulfide led to the isolation of unprecedented reduction products. In particular, the crystallographic characterization of complex [Yb₂ L₄ (μ-C₂ S₂ )], 2, provided the first example of an acetylenedithiolate ligand formed from metal reduction of CS₂ . Computational studies indicated that this unprecedented reactivity can be ascribed to the unusual binding mode of CS₂ ^2- in the isolated "key intermediate" [Yb₂ L₄ (μ-CS₂ )], 3, which results from the dinuclear nature of 1.