Attempted Reduction of Divalent Rare Earth Iodo Aminopyridinates

Rare examples of amido‐iodo complexes of selected divalent lanthanides can be synthesized by using deprotonated Ap*H {Ap*H = 2,6‐diisopropylphenyl)‐[6‐(2,4,6‐triisopropylphenyl)‐pyridin‐2‐yl]‐amine} as a stabilizing ligand. Reaction of [Ap*K] n with [LnI 2 (thf) n ] (Ln = Eu, Yb, n = 4,5) in THF leads to [Ln(Ap*)I(thf) 2 ] 2 (Ln = Eu, Yb). An attempted reduction of these divalent heteroleptic complexes with KC 8 to synthesize complexes containing an unsupported Ln–Ln bond resulted in the formation of [Ln(Ap*) 2 (thf) 2 ]. These lanthanide complexes were characterized by X‐ray structure analysis.