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1. Crystal structure of the [(THF)Cs(μ-η ⁵ :η ⁵ -Cp′) ₃ Yb] _n oligomer

   https://doi.org/10.1107/S2056989020008051  

   Huh, Daniel N.; Ziller, Joseph W.; Evans, William J. (July 2020, Acta Crystallographica Section E Crystallographic Communications)

   null (Ed.)

   The green compound poly[(tetrahydrofuran)tris[μ-η 5 :η 5 -1-(trimethylsilyl)cyclopentadienyl]caesium(I)ytterbium(II)], [CsYb(C 8 H 13 Si) 3 (C 4 H 8 O)] n or [(THF)Cs(μ-η 5 :η 5 -Cp′) 3 Yb II ] n was synthesized by reduction of a red THF solution of (C 5 H 4 SiMe 3 ) 3 Yb III with excess Cs metal and identified by X-ray diffraction. The compound crystallizes as a two-dimensional array of hexagons with alternating Cs I and Yb II ions at the vertices and cyclopentadienyl groups bridging each edge. This, based off the six-electron cyclopentadienyl rings occupying three coordination positions, gives a formally nine-coordinate tris(cyclopentadienyl) coordination environment to Yb and the Cs is ten-coordinate due to the three cyclopentadienyl rings and a coordinated molecule of THF. The complex comprises layers of Cs 3 Yb 3 hexagons with THF ligands and Me 3 Si groups in between the layers. The Yb—C metrical parameters are consistent with a 4 f 14 Yb II electron configuration. 

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2. Crystallographic characterization of rare-earth cyanotriphenylborate complexes and the cyanoborates [NCBPh ₃ ] ¹⁻ , [NCBPh ₂ Me] ¹⁻ , and [NCBPh ₂ (μ-O)BPh ₂ ] ¹⁻

   https://doi.org/10.1107/S2056989021006861  

   Dumas, Megan T.; White, Jessica R.; Ziller, Joseph W.; Evans, William J. (August 2021, Acta Crystallographica Section E Crystallographic Communications)

   The investigation of the coordination chemistry of rare-earth metal complexes with cyanide ligands led to the isolation and crystallographic characterization of the Ln III cyanotriphenylborate complexes dichlorido(cyanotriphenylborato-κ N )tetrakis(tetrahydrofuran-κ O )lanthanide(III), [ Ln Cl 2 (C 19 H 15 BN)(C 4 H 8 O) 4 ] [lanthanide ( Ln ) = dysprosium (Dy) and yttrium Y)] from reactions of LnCl 3 , KCN, and NaBPh 4 . Attempts to independently synthesize the tetraethylammonium salt of (NCBPh 3 ) − from BPh 3 and [NEt 4 ][CN] in THF yielded crystals of the phenyl-substituted cyclic borate, tetraethylazanium 2,2,4,6-tetraphenyl-1,3,5,2λ 4 ,4,6-trioxatriborinan-2-ide, C 8 H 20 N + ·C 24 H 20 B 3 O 3 − or [NEt 4 ][B 3 (μ-O) 3 (C 6 H 5 ) 4 ]. The mechanochemical reaction of BPh 3 and [NEt 4 ][CN] without solvent produced crystals of tetraethylazanium cyanodiphenyl-λ 4 -boranyl diphenylborinate, C 8 H 20 N + ·C 25 H 20 B 2 NO − or [NEt 4 ][NCBPh 2 (μ-O)BPh 2 ]. Reaction of BPh 3 and KCN in THF in the presence of 2.2.2-cryptand (crypt) led to a crystal of bis[(2.2.2-cryptand)potassium] 2,2,4,6-tetraphenyl-1,3,5,2λ 4 ,4,6-trioxatriborinan-2-ide cyanomethyldiphenylborate tetrahydrofuran disolvate, 2C 18 H 36 KN 2 O 6 + ·C 24 H 20 B 3 O 3 − ·C 14 H 13 BN − ·2C 4 H 8 O or [K(crypt)] 2 [B 3 (μ-O) 3 (C 6 H 5 ) 4 ][NCBPh 2 Me]·2THF. The [NCBPh 2 (μ-O)BPh 2 ] 1− and (NCBPh 2 Me) 1− anions have not been structurally characterized previously. The structure of 1-Y was refined as a two-component twin with occupancy factors 0.513 (1) and 0.487 (1). In 4 , one solvent molecule was disordered and included using multiple components with partial site-occupancy factors. 

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3. 2.2.2-Cryptand as a bidentate ligand in rare-earth metal chemistry

   https://doi.org/10.1039/d0qi00746c  

   Chung, Amanda B.; Huh, Daniel N.; Ziller, Joseph W.; Evans, William J. (November 2020, Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers)

   null (Ed.)

   The 2.2.2-cryptand ligand (crypt) that is heavily used in reductions of rare-earth metal complexes to encapsulate alkali metals has been found to function as a bidentate ligand to rare-earth metal ions in some cases. The X-ray crystal structures of the reduced dinitrogen metal complex, [{(R 2 N) 2 Ce(crypt-κ 2 -O,O′)} 2 (μ–η 2 :η 2 -N 2 )] (R = SiMe 3 ), and the ytterbium metallocene, (C 5 Me 5 ) 2 Yb(crypt-κ 2 -O,O′), are presented to demonstrate this binding mode. The implications of this available binding mode in rare-earth metal cryptand chemistry are discussed. 

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4. Crystal structure characterization and electronic structure of a rare-earth-containing Zintl phase in the Yb–Al–Sb family: Yb ₃ AlSb ₃

   https://doi.org/10.1107/S2053229621005192  

   Shang, Rongqing; Nguyen, An T.; He, Allan; Kauzlarich, Susan M. (June 2021, Acta Crystallographica Section C Structural Chemistry)

   null (Ed.)

   A rare-earth-containing compound, ytterbium aluminium antimonide, Yb 3 AlSb 3 (Ca 3 AlAs 3 -type structure), has been successfully synthesized within the Yb–Al–Sb system through flux methods. According to the Zintl formalism, this structure is nominally made up of (Yb 2+ ) 3 [(Al 1− )( 1b – Sb 2− ) 2 ( 2b – Sb 1− )], where 1b and 2b indicate 1-bonded and 2-bonded, respectively, and Al is treated as part of the covalent anionic network. The crystal structure features infinite corner-sharing AlSb 4 tetrahedra, [AlSb 2 Sb 2/2 ] 6− , with Yb 2+ cations residing between the tetrahedra to provide charge balance. Herein, the synthetic conditions, the crystal structure determined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, and electronic structure calculations are reported. 

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5. Peculiarities of crystal structures and photophysical properties of Ga ^III /Ln ^III metallacrowns with a non-planar [12-MC-4] core

   https://doi.org/10.1039/c9qi01647c  

   Nguyen, Tu N.; Eliseeva, Svetlana V.; Chow, Chun Y.; Kampf, Jeff W.; Petoud, Stéphane; Pecoraro, Vincent L. (March 2020, Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers)

   A new series of gallium( iii )/lanthanide( iii ) metallacrown (MC) complexes ( Ln-1 ) was synthesized by the direct reaction of salicylhydroxamic acid (H 3 shi) with Ga III and Ln III nitrates in a CH 3 OH/pyridine mixture. X-ray single crystal analysis revealed two types of structures depending on whether the nitrate counterion coordinate or not to the Ln III : [LnGa 4 (shi) 4 (H 2 shi) 2 (py) 4 (NO 3 )](py) 2 (Ln = Gd III , Tb III , Dy III , Ho III ) and [LnGa 4 (shi) 4 (H 2 shi) 2 (py) 5 ](NO 3 )(py) (Ln = Er III , Tm III , Yb III ). The representative Tb-1 and Yb-1 MCs consist of a Tb/YbGa 4 core with four [Ga III –N–O] repeating units forming a non-planar ring that coordinates the central Ln III through the oxygen atoms of the four shi 3− groups. Two H 2 shi − groups bridge the Ln III to the Ga III ring ions. The Yb III in Yb-1 is eight-coordinated while the ligation of the nine-coordinated Tb III in Tb-1 is completed by one chelating nitrate ion. Ln-1 complexes in the solid state showed characteristic sharp f–f transitions in the visible (Tb, Dy) and near-infrared (Dy, Ho, Er, Yb) spectral ranges upon excitation into the ligand-centered electronic levels at 350 nm. Observed luminescence lifetimes and absolute quantum yields were collected and discussed. For Yb-1 , luminescence data were also acquired in CH 3 OH and CD 3 OD solutions and a more extensive analysis of photophysical properties was performed. This work demonstrates that while obtaining highly luminescent lanthanide( iii ) MCs via a direct synthesis is feasible, many factors such as molar absorptivities, triplet state energies, non-radiative deactivations through vibronic coupling with overtones of O–H, N–H, and C–H oscillators and crystal packing will strongly contribute to the luminescent properties and should be carefully considered. 

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