Syntheses and X-ray structures of bis(t-butylcyclopentadienyl) lanthanide chloride complexes [(Bu tCp) 2LnCl] 2 (Ln = Pr, Gd, Er)

Abstract

Reaction of lanthanide trichlorides with two equivalents of sodium t-butyl-cyclopentadienide in THF gave rise to the bis(t-butylcyclopentadienyl)lanthanide chloride complexes [(Bu tCp) 2LnCl] 2 (Ln = Pr, Gd, Er), which were characterized by elemental analysis, IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. In addition, the crystal structures of [(Bu tCp) 2PrCl] 2 ( 1) and [(Bu tCp) 2GdCl] 2 ( 2) were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction at room temperature. The coordination number for Pr 3+ and Gd 3+ is 8 and the bond lengths PrCl and GdCl are 2.864(2) and 2.771(3) Å, respectively. The structural studies showed the complexes to have C 2h , symmetry.