δ-Bonding modulates the electronic structure of formally divalent nd¹ rare earth arene complexes.

ABSTRACT: Landmark advances in rare earth (RE) chemistry have shown that divalent complexes can be isolated with non-Aufbau 4f ⁿ {5d/6s}¹ electron configurations, facilitating remarkable bonding motifs and magnetic properties. We report a series of divalent bis-tethered arene complexes, [RE(NHAr^iPr₆ )₂] (2RE; RE = Sc, Y, La, Sm, Eu, Tm, Yb; NHAr^iPr₆ = {N(H)C₆H₃-2,6-(C₆H₂-2,4,6-iPr₃)₂}). Fluid solution EPR spectroscopy gives g _iso < 2.002 for 2Sc, 2Y, and 2La, consistent with formal nd¹ configurations, calculations reveal metal-arene δ-bonding via mixing of nd_{(x ²-y ²)</}

SUBMITTER: MacKenzie RE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11361033 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature