Addition of selenium to the nickel(I) complex, [Ni(Me4[12]aneN4)(CO)]PF6, effects a redox reaction leading to the diselenido dinickel(II) complex, {[(Ni(Me4[12]aneN4)]2(Se2)}(PF6)2, in 70% crystalline yield. The product's structure features a μ-η(2):η(2)-Se2 ligand with Se-Se bond length of 2.379(13) Å. Upon mild heating, {[(Ni(Me4[12]aneN4)]2(μ-η(2):η(2)-Se2)}(PF6)2 oxidizes 9,10-dihydroanthracene or 1,4-cyclohexadiene forming the terminal hydroselenide, [Ni(Me4[12]aneN4)(SeH)]PF6, and anthracene or benzene, respectively. [Ni(Me4[12]aneN4)(SeH)]PF6 cleanly converts back to the diselenido dinickel(II) adduct upon addition of a phenoxy radical.

Although there are many examples of acetate complexes, acetamide complexes are virtually unknown. A side-by-side comparison in (acetato-κ(2)O,O')(1,4,7,10-tetramethyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-κ(4)N)nickel(II) hexafluoridophosphate, [Ni(C2H3O2)(C12H28N4)]PF6, (1), and (acetamidato-κ(2)O,O')(1,4,7,10-tetramethyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-κ(4)N)nickel(II) hexafluoridophosphate, [Ni(C2H4NO)(C12H28N4)]PF6, (2), shows the steric equivalence between these two ligands, suggesting that acetamide could be considered as a viable acetate replacement for electronic tuning.

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