When Metathesis Reactions Go Wrong: Novel Structural Consequences

The complex [Yb(Ph₂pz)₃(LiOBu)]₂ ( 1 ) (Ph₂pz = 3,5‐diphenylpyrazolate), fortuitously obtained from reaction of Yb metal with a lithium containing sample of [SnMe₃(Ph₂pz)] at elevated temperatures forms a centrosymmetric butoxy‐ and pyrazolate‐bridged open box structure. Each ytterbium atom is eight coordinate with one chelating Ph₂pz ligand, one μ‐η²:η² bridging pyrazolate, one μ‐η²(Yb):η⁴(Li) Ph₂pz group and two bridging butoxide ligands. Each lithium atom is unsymmetrically chelated by an η²‐Ph₂pz group, η⁴(N,C(pz)C₂(Ph)) bonded by another pyazolate group, and bridged through a butoxide oxygen atom to two ytterbium atoms. The type of η⁴‐pyrazolate coordination is unprecedented and is the first observation of interactions to a metal by the Ph rings of the Ph₂pz ligand. The complex [Li(dme)₃][Eu(Ph₂pz)₃(dme)] ( 2 ) obtained from reaction of Eu metal with the same sample of [SnMe₃(Ph₂pz)] in dme at room temperature is a charged separated species with the first anionic pyrazolatolanthanoidate(II) complex in which europium is eight coordinate with three chelating Ph₂pz ligands and a chelating dme.