The first lanthani
de complex featuring a phosphini
dene functional group has been prepare
d an
d isolate
d. Preliminary reactivity stu
dies
demonstrate that the lutetium(III) phosphini
dene complex, [{2-(
iPr
2P)-4-Me-C
6H
3}
2NLu]
2(
-PMes)
2, behaves as a phospha-Wittig reagent with al
dehy
des an
d ketones to give the correspon
ding phosphaalkenes. Attempts to use the bulky phosphine H
2P-2,4,6-
tBu
3-C
6H
2 to kinetically stabilize a terminal phosphini
dene resulte
d in C-H activation of an
ortho-
tBu group an
d formation of a phosphain
dole.