Salt metathesis reactions of LnCl3 (Sc, Y vs. Sm, Yb) with potassium diphenylmethanide {[2,2′-(4-MeC6H3NMe2)2CH]K(THF)}2

The outcome of salt metathesis reactions between the equimolar amounts of LnCl₃ and dimeric potassium diphenylmethanide {[2,2′-(4-MeC₆H₃NMe₂)₂CH]K(THF)}₂ depends on the rare-earth metal ion. In the case of Sc^III and Y^III, the reactions afford chlorido-bis(diphenylmethanido) complexes {[2,2′-(4-MeC₆H₃NMe₂)₂CH]₂Ln^III(μ-Cl)}₂, in which the diphenylmethanido ligands perform bidentate κ²-CN coordination according to the X-ray data. For Yb^III and Sm^III, these reactions result in the spontaneous reduction of Ln^III to Ln^II and the formation of known bis(diphenylmethanido) complexes [2,2′-(4-MeC₆H₃NMe₂)₂CH]₂Ln^II and the product of oxidative coupling of diphenylmethanido anions.