668 Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 35, No. 3, 1996
Clark et al.
compared to that of LiCl and NaCl. However, even the use of
heavier alkali metal reagents has not completely eliminated the
problem of salt retention. Thus the room temperature reaction
of anhydrous LnCl3 (Ln ) Nd, Er, Lu) with 3 or 4 equiv of
potassium 2,6-diisopropylphenoxide in THF leads to the forma-
tion of potassium salts of formula KLn(OAr)4, according to the
stoichiometry of eq 1.9a,f
calculations have shown that the larger, more polarizable cations,
potassium through cesium, prefer multihapto interactions with
ring carbons while the smaller alkali metals, particularly lithium,
tend to interact with the center of highest charge.11i,12c Collateral
interactions with additional carbanions were also found to be
energetically favorable for the heavier alkali metals, in contrast
to lithium and sodium cations which favored interactions with
heteroatoms such as nitrogen and oxygen.
LnCl3 + 4KOAr THF8 KLn(OAr)4 + 3KCl
Ln ) Nd, Er, Lu; Ar ) 2,6-i-Pr2C6H3
(1)
On the basis of expected differences in coordination environ-
ment upon moving from lithium to cesium and having noted
recent publications which describe the significant structural and
reactivity effects of varying the alkali metal cation in a series
of anionic cobalt and chromium aryloxide derivatives,13,14 we
undertook an investigation of a series of lanthanum salt
complexes of general formula M[Ln(OAr)4] (M ) Li, Na, Cs;
Ar ) 2,6-i-Pr2C6H3). Together with the known structure of the
potassium analog, the results allow a general picture of the
effects of different alkali metal cations upon the extended solid
state structures of anionic lanthanide aryloxide complexes to
be developed.
These salts exhibit unusual solid state structures involving
multihapto π-arene interactions between the aryloxide ligands
and potassium cations. The presence of K-C interactions
between adjacent [Ln(OAr)4]- units leads to the formation of
pseudo-one-dimensional infinite chains, as shown in I for the
neodymium salt KNd(OAr)4. A similar structural motif has also
been observed in the recently-reported lanthanide aryloxide
10a
complexes {K[(µ-η-C5H5)2Nd(µ-O-2,6-Me2C6H3)2]}n
and
{K[Sm(µ-O-2,6-t-Bu2C6H3)3(THF)]}n,10b and related alkali metal-
π-arene interactions have been documented in a number of
recent publications.11
Results and Discussion
Synthesis and Reactivity. Initial investigations were directed
toward optimization of a suitable synthetic strategy for the
preparation of the desired lanthanum salt complexes of general
formula MLa(OAr)4 (M ) Li, Na, Cs; Ar ) 2,6-i-Pr2C6H3). It
was found that the reaction of anhydrous LaCl3 with 4 equiv of
alkali metal aryloxide in THF produced mixtures of products
which proved difficult to separate. It is postulated that these
mixtures contain both neutral and anionic chloride/aryloxide
species of the type LaClx(OAr)3-x and KLaClx(OAr)4-x. Sub-
sequently, we focused on the reaction of a preformed tris-
(aryloxide) species with an additional 1 equiv of alkali metal
aryloxide. We have previously reported the synthesis of the
homoleptic lanthanide aryloxide complexes Ln2(OAr)6 (Ln )
La, Nd, Sm, Er) Via the synthetic route shown in eq 2.9d,g
Detailed computational studies have recently been performed
concerning the interaction of alkali metal cations with both
neutral arene rings12a,b and delocalized carbanions.11i,12c These
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