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Originally published in Science Express on 8 November 2007
Science 14 December 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5857, pp. 1754 - 1757
DOI: 10.1126/science.1150856
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Reports

Stable Magnesium(I) Compounds with Mg-Mg Bonds

Shaun P. Green,1,2 Cameron Jones,1* Andreas Stasch1*

The chemistry of the group 2 metals (beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium) is dominated by the +2 oxidation state. Here, we report the reductions of two magnesium(II) iodide complexes with potassium metal in toluene, leading to thermally stable magnesium(I) compounds, (L)MgMg(L) (where L is [(Ar)NC(NPri2)N(Ar)]– or {[(Ar)NC(Me)]2CH}–, Ar is 2,6-diisopropylphenyl, Me is methyl, and Pri is isopropyl) in moderate yields. The results of x-ray crystallographic and theoretical studies are consistent with central Mg 2+2 units that have single, covalent magnesium-magnesium bonding interactions with 2.8508 ± 0.0012 (standard deviation) and 2.8457 ± 0.0008 angstrom bond lengths, respectively, and predominantly ionic interactions with the anionic ligands (L).

1 School of Chemistry, Monash University, Post Office Box 23, Victoria 3800, Australia.
2 School of Chemistry, Main Building, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: cameron.jones{at}sci.monash.edu.au (C.J.); andreas.stasch{at}sci.monash.edu.au (A.S.)

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