A series
of lanthanide chalcogenides {[η5–1,3-(Me3C)2C5H3]2Ln}2(μ-η2:η2-Te2) (Ln = Ce 1, La 2), {[η5–1,3-(Me3C)2C5H3]2Ln(THF)}2(μ-Se) (Ln = Ce 3, La 4), and {[η5–1,3-(Me3C)2C5H3]2Ln(THF)}2(μ-Te) (Ln = Ce 5, La 6) can
be readily obtained by the reaction of the alkyl complexes [η5–1,3-(Me3C)2C5H3]2Ln(CH2C6H4-o-NMe2) with elemental selenium or tellurium
in the presence of 9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (9-BBN). The reaction
of the alkyl complexes [η5–1,3-(Me3C)2C5H3]2Ln(CH2C6H4-o-NMe2) with
9-BBN in 1:2 molar ratio afforded the lanthanide (cyclooctane-1,5-diyl)dihydroborate
complexes [η5–1,3-(Me3C)2C5H3]2Ln[(μ-H)2BC8H14] (Ln = Ce 7, La 8) concomitant with the (Me2N-o-C6H4CH2)BC8H14 release,
indicating that [η5–1,3-(Me3C)2C5H3]2LnH may be the reactive
species for the synthesis of lanthanide chalcogenides. All the new
compounds were characterized by various spectroscopic methods, and
their solid-state structures were further confirmed by single-crystal
X-ray diffraction analyses. Luminescence spectroscopy was also employed
to characterize complexes 1–6. The Ce(III) complexes 3 and 5 display distinct luminescence properties
at room temperature, as compared to the corresponding La(III) complexes 4 and 6. The complex {[η5–1,3-(Me3C)2C5H3]2Ce(THF)}2(μ-Te) (5) exhibits unexpectedly red emission
in solution which is found to depend strongly on the excitation wavelength.