Beryllium derivatives of a phenyl-substituted β-diketiminate: a well-defined ring opening reaction of tetrahydrofuran

The phenyl-substituted β-diketiminate ligand precursor (Ph)LH, [(Dipp)NC(Ph)CHC(Ph)NH(Dipp)] (Dipp = 2,6-di-isopropylphenyl) and its lithium and beryllium halide derivatives [(Ph)LLi(OEt2)], [(Ph)LBeCl] and [(Ph)LBeI] have been synthesised and characterised by NMR and X-ray structural analysis. The iodoberyllium complex [(Ph)LBeI] reacts with THF in a well-defined ring-opening insertion reaction to form the 4-iodo-n-butoxide complex [(Ph)LBeO(CH2)4I].