Syntheses and structures of magnesium and zinc boraamidinates: EPR and DFT investigations of Li, Mg, Zn, B, and ln complexes of the [PhB(N(sub t)Bu)(sub 2)](super .-) anion radical

The first magnesium and zinc boraamidinate (bam) complexes are synthesized via metathetical reactions between dilithio atoms and Grignard reagents or MCl2 (M=Mg, Zn). The results show that the bam anionic radical [PhB(N(super t)Bu)(sub 2)](super .-) can be stabilized by coordination to a variety of early main-group metal centers to provide neutral radicals whose relative stabilities are compared and discussed.