Scandium and lanthanum hydride complexes stabilized by super-bulky penta-arylcyclopentadienyl ligands.

Hydrogenolysis of the half-sandwich penta-arylcycopentadienyl-supported rare-earth metal dibenzyl complexes [(CpAr5)Ln(p-CH2-C6H4-Me)2(THF)] (CpAr5 = C5Ar5, Ar = 3,5-iPr2-C6H3; Ln = Sc, La) afforded a bimetallic scandium complex [(CpAr5)Sc(H)(μ-OC4H9)]2 (2) with two terminal hydrido ligands, and a double-sandwich bimetallic lanthanum hydride complex [(CpAr5)La(μ-H)]2 (4) bearing the reduced CpAr5 ligand. DFT calculations were conducted to elucidate the reaction profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]