A base-free synthetic route to anti-bimetallic lanthanide pentalene complexes.

We report the synthesis and structural characterisation of three homobimetallic complexes featuring divalent lanthanide metals (Ln = Yb, Eu and Sm) bridged by the silylated pentalene ligand [1,4-{Sii Pr3 }2 C8 H4 ]2- (= Pn† ). Magnetic measurements and cyclic voltammetry have been used to investigate the extent of intermetallic communication in these systems, in the context of molecular models for organolanthanide based conducting materials.