A Chemical Definition of the Effective Reducing Power of Thulium(II) Diiodide by Its Reactions with Cyclic Unsaturated Hydrocarbons

Thulium diiodide reduces cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that have reduction potentials more positive than - 2.0 V versus SCE. Thus, TmI2 reacts with cyclooctatetraene or acenaphthylene in THF, or with lithium anthracenide in 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) to give thulium triiodide and the thulium(III) complexes [(eta8-C8H8)TmI(thf)2] (1), rac-ansa-[(eta5-C12H8)2TmI(thf)] (2), or [(eta2-C14H10)TmI-(dme)2] (3), respectively. The molecular structures of 1-3 were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.