Neutral binuclear rare-earth metal complexes with four μ2-bridging hydridesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental section, NMR, and crystallographic data. CCDC 1020089 (2-Y), 1020088 (2-Lu) and 1020087 (3-Y). For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c4cc07262f

The first neutral rare-earth metal dinuclear dihydrido complexes [(NPNPN)LnH 2 ] 2 ( 2-Ln ; Ln = Y, Lu; NPNPN: N[Ph 2 PNC 6 H 3 ( i Pr) 2 ] 2 ) bearing μ 2 -bridging hydride ligands have been synthesized. In the presence of THF, 2-Y undergoes intramolecular activation of the sp 2 C-H bond to form dinuclear aryl-hydride complex 3-Y containing three μ 2 -bridging hydride ligands. The first neutral dimeric rare-earth metal hydride complexes containing quadruply bridged hydrido ligands were prepared, in which the intramolecular activation triggered by a THF molecule has been observed.