Exploring sulfur donor atom coordination chemistry with La(II), Nd(II), and Tm(II) using a terphenylthiolate ligand.

To expand the range of donor atoms known to stabilize 4fn5d1 Ln(II) rare-earth metal (Ln) ions beyond the C, N, and O first row main group donor atoms, the Ln(III) sulfur donor terphenylthiolate iodide complexes, LnIII(SAriPr6)2I (AriPr6 = C6H3-2,6-(C6H2-2,4,6-iPr3)2, Ln = La, Nd) were reduced to form LnII(SAriPr6)2 complexes. These Ln(II) species were structurally characterized, analyzed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and compared to Tm(SAriPr6)2, which was synthesized from TmI2(DME)3.