Facile access to tetravalent cerium compounds: one-electron oxidation using iodine(III) reagents.

Readily accessible and easy-to-use phenyliodine(III) dichloride, PhICl(2), has been established as an innovative and superior reagent for the one-electron oxidation of cerium(III) complexes, comprising amide, amidinate, and cyclopentadienyl derivatives. Its use allowed the successful synthesis and structural characterization of the first members of three new classes of chloro-functionalized (organo)cerium(IV) compounds, including the long sought-after Cp(3)CeCl.