Metalation of
N
-mesityl-
P
,
P
-diphenylphosphinic
amide Ph
2
P(O)-NHMes (HL,
I
) with MgBu
2
and Ae{N(SiMe
3
)
2
}
2
(Ae =
Ca, Sr, and Ba) yields alkaline-earth metal complexes
with the compositions of [(thf)
n
Ae(L·HL)
2
] [Ae/n = Mg/0 (
II
), Ca/2 (
III
)] as well
as of [Sr
2
L
3
(L·HL)(HL)] (
1
), [Ba
2
L
3
(L·HL)(HL)] (
2
),
[Ba
3
L
6
] (
3
), and [(thf)
2
Ba
3
L
6
] (
4
). In
III
,
1
,
2
, and
3
, the alkaline-earth
metal atoms are in severely distorted octahedral environments, and
the structural distortions are partially caused by the small O-Ae-N
bite angles of the chelating Ph
2
P(O)-NMes anions. The substructures
(L·HL) contain N–H···N hydrogen bridges,
stabilizing the arrangement of the ligands in complexes
II
,
III
,
1
, and
2
. In the trinuclear
barium complex [Ba(μ-L)
3
Ba(μ-L)
3
Ba] (
3
), a rigid adjustment of the anionic L bases leads
to a C
3
-symmetric molecule in the crystalline state with
bridging oxygen atoms. Due to the small O–Ba–N bite
angles of the chelating anions, vacant coordination sites are available
at the outer barium centers. Coordination of thf bases in these gaps
yields the complex [(thf)Ba(μ-L)
3
Ba(μ-L)
3
Ba(thf)] (
4
). However, THF is unable to deaggregate
the trinuclear complexes into smaller barium-containing moieties.
Increasing the radius of the alkaline-earth metals and increasing
the nuclearity of these compounds lead to decreasing solubility in
common organic solvents. NMR studies verify that the molecular structures
of these alkaline-earth metal complexes are maintained in ethereal
solvents and toluene.