Keywords: Lithium / Iron / O,P ligands / Cluster compoundsThe preparation and characterization of lithium and iron(II) complexes containing a potentially tridentate biphenolate phosphane ligand are reported. Deprotonation of 2,2Ј-phenylphosphanyl-bis(4,6-di-tert-butylphenol) (H 2 L Ph ) with one or two equivalents of nBuLi in diethyl ether solutions at -35°C produces binuclear {Li(HL Ph )(OEt 2 )} 2 or tetranuclear Li 4 (L Ph ) 2 (OEt 2 ) 3 , respectively. An X-ray study of {Li(HL Ph )-(OEt 2 )} 2 showed it to be a C i -symmetric dimer composed of two Li(HL Ph )(OEt 2 ) units linked with dative O-Li bonds in-