Ytterbium and Europium Complexes of Redox-Active Ligands: Searching for Redox Isomerism

The reaction of (dpp-Bian)EuII(dme)2 (3) (dpp-Bian is dianion of 1,2-bis[(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imino]acenaphthene; dme is 1,2-dimethoxyethane) with 2,2′-bipyridine (bipy) in toluene proceeds with replacement of the coordinated solvent molecules with neutral bipy ligands and affords europium(II) complex (dpp-Bian)EuII(bipy)2 (9). In contrast the reaction of related ytterbium complex (dpp-Bian)YbII(dme)2 (4) with bipy in dme proceeds with the electron transfer from the metal to bipy and results in (dpp-Bian)YbIII(bipy)(bipy–) (10) – ytterbium(III) derivative containing both neutral and radical-anionic bipy ligands. Noteworthy, in both cases dianionic dpp-Bian ligands retain its reduction state. The ligand-centered redox-process occurs when complex 3 reacts with N,N′-bis[2,4,6-trimethylphenyl]-1,4-diaza-1,3-butadiene (mes-dad). The reaction product (dpp-Bian)EuII(mes-dad)(dme) (11) consists of two different redox-active ligands both in the radical-anionic state. The reduction of 3,6-di-tert-butyl-4-(3,6-di...