Reduction of diimine Ar-bian (L) (Ar-bian = (1-2,6-dibenzhydryl-4-methylphenyl-2-2,6-di-iso-propylphenyliminoacenaphthene) with excess magnesium, calcium, strontium or barium in the presence of catalytic amounts of the corresponding iodides leads to the formation of complexes (Ar-bian)Mg(Thf)(Dme) (I), (Ar-bian)Ca(Dme) (II), (Ar-bian)Sr(Dme) (III) and (Ar-bian)Ba(Dme) (IV) containing the dianion Ar-bian. Compounds L, I–IV were characterized by IR and NMR spectroscopy, as well as elemental analysis and single crystal X-ray analysis (CIF files CCDC 2440721 (L), 2440722 (I), 2440723 (II), 2440724 (III), 2440725 (IV)).
Bazanov et al. (Wed,) studied this question.