A tetranuclear samarium() inverse sandwich from direct reduction of toluene by a samarium() siloxide

The dinuclear Sm II complex, [Sm 2 L 4 (dme)] (L = OSi(O t Bu) 3 ), is easily obtained from the protonolysis reaction of [Sm{N(SiMe 3 ) 2 }(thf) 2 ] with HOSi(O t Bu) 3 . This complex reacts slowly with toluene, resulting in the isolation of the triple-decker arene-bridged Sm II complex, [{Sm 2 L 3 } 2 (μ-η 6 :η 6 -C 7 H 8 )], in 44% yield. This reactivity provides the first example of unambiguous arene reduction by an isolated Sm II species. In contrast, reduction of [SmL 3 ] 2 afforded the inverse sandwich complex, [{KSmL 3 } 2 (μ-η 6 :η 6 -C 7 H 8 )]. The dinuclear Sm II complex [Sm 2 L 4 (dme)] (L = OSi(O t Bu) 3 ) reacts slowly with toluene, resulting in the isolation of the triple decker arene-bridged Sm II complex [{Sm 2 L 3 } 2 (μ-η 6 :η 6 -C 7 H 8 )] in 44% yield. This reactivity provides the first example of an unambiguous arene reduction by an isolated Sm II species.