Charge transfer salts of the lanthanides: the crystal structure of [Yb(TpMe,Me)2][TCNE]·(THF)6

Abstract The reaction of [Ln(Tp Me,Me ) 2 ] (Ln=Sm, Eu, Yb) with TCNE and TCNQ gave good yields of the expected salt [Ln(Tp Me,Me ) 2 ]Y (Y=TCNE, TCNQ) as a THF solvate. The crystal structure of [Yb(Tp Me,Me ) 2 ][TCNE]·(THF) 6 was determined and shows the expected salt-like formulation, but shows no significant interionic contacts. The reactions with TCNQ produced less well-defined products with evidence for interionic contacts.