Reaction of sodium 1,2,4-tris(trimethylsilyl)cyclopentadienide [Na(Cp' '')] with [TmI
2(THF)
3] affordedthe divalent thulium complex [(Cp' '')
2Tm(THF)]. Its crystal structure is similar to that of the previouslydescribed [(Cp
ttt)
2Tm(THF)] (Cp
ttt = 1,2,4-tris(
tert-butyl)cyclopentadienyl). [(Cp' '')
2TmI] was preparedby reaction of TmI
3 with [K(Cp' '')] and could be reduced by KC
8 into a new unsolvated, homolepticcomplex, [(Cp' '')
2Tm], which was characterized by NMR. [(Cp' '')
2Tm] gave [(Cp' '')
2Tm(THF)] byinteraction with THF. A convenient alternative pathway to [(Cp
ttt)
2Tm] by reduction of [(Cp
ttt)
2Tm(BH
4)] with KC
8 was found: [(Cp
ttt)
2Tm(BH
4)] derives from [Tm(BH
4)
3(THF)
3], which can be preparedfrom the less expensive TmCl
3. On the other hand, the dimer [{(Cp
tt)
2TmI}
2] (Cp
tt = 1,3-bis(
tert-butyl)cyclopentadienyl), obtained by reaction of TmI
3 with [Na(Cp
tt)], gave only intractable results by reactionwith KC
8. The previously described Tm
II complex [(Dtp)
2Tm] (Dtp = 2,5-di-
tert-butyl-3,4-dimethylphospholyl) and the new, homoleptic, structurally characterized Tm
II dimer [{(Htp)
2Tm}
2] (Htp = 2,5-di-
tert-butylphospholyl) were prepared by KC
8 reduction of [(Dtp)
2TmI] and [{(Htp)
2TmI}
2], respectively. Reaction of [(Cp
ttt)
2Tm] with pyridine resulted in an immediate reduction of pyridine into 1,1'-bis(1,4-dihydropyridylamide) and the formation of the structurally characterized [{(Cp
ttt)
2Tm}
2{
![](/images/entities/mgr.gif)
-(NC
5H
5-C
5H
5N)}], while the reaction of [(Dtp)
2Tm] with pyridine gave no isolable complexes. An NMRstudy suggests that initially a simple Tm
II adduct such as [(Dtp)
2Tm(pyridine)] is formed in this reaction.