Lanthanide aryloxy complexes

Lanthanide aryloxy complexes, 27 164 Lanthanide 7) -cyclopentadienyl complexes,... 

Early transition metal, lanthanide and actinide alkoxy and amido complexes are common, and they often are stable because of the interaction between the filled p orbital of the O or N atom of the ligand and an empty d metal orbital. The alkoxy and aryloxy ligands play a crucial role in the catalytic properties of group 5-7 metal-alkylidene and metal-alkylidyne complexes for the metathesis of simple, double and triple bonds. - On the other hand, the behavior of late transition-metal alkoxy and amido complexes is less known. Many of them are stable, however, in spite of the possible repulsion between the filled d orbital and the p orbital of the heteroatom. The metal-heteroatom bonds are robust, and the main characteristic of these is that they are strongly polar and possess a significant ionic character. They exhibit nucleophilic reactivity and sometimes form strong bonds to proton donors (they even deprotonate relatively weak acids). 

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