Heterobimetallic complexes of lanthanide and lithium metals with dianionic guanidinate ligands: Syntheses, structures and catalytic activity for amidation of aldehydes with amines

Reactions of triguanidinate lanthanide complexes Ln[(iPrN)(NC6H4p-Cl)C(NHiPr)]3 (Ln = Nd, Y) with 3 equiv. of n-BuLi gave [Li(THF)(DME)]3Ln[μ-η2η1 (iPrN)2C(NC6H4p-Cl)]3, which represents the first structurally characterized complexes of lanthanide and lithium metals with dianionic guanidinate ligands. The Nd complex was found to be an effective catalyst for amidation of aldehydes with amines under mild conditions with a wide scope of substrates.