The number of rare earth (RE) starting
materials used in synthesis
is staggering, ranging from simple binary metal-halide salts to borohydrides
and “designer reagents” such as alkyl and organoaluminate
complexes. This review collates the most important starting materials
used in RE synthetic chemistry, including essential information on
their preparations and uses in modern synthetic methodologies. The
review is divided by starting material category and supporting ligands
(
i.e.
, metals as synthetic precursors, halides, borohydrides,
nitrogen donors, oxygen donors, triflates, and organometallic reagents),
and in each section relevant synthetic methodologies and applications
are discussed.