A New Route to Neodymium(II) and Dysprosium(II) Iodides

Heating a mixture of the appropriate metal with iodine, followed by dissolving the products in THF or DME, and crystallization at low temperature has provided a simple route to microcrystalline molecular iodides of neodymium(II) and dysprosium(II), LnI2(THF)5 and LnI2(DME)3 (Ln=Dy, Nd). Prolonged drying of DyI2(THF)5 in vacuum yielded a violet powder of composition DyI2(THF)3. These crystalline complexes are thermally stable, but in the solution their stability is lower.