Cerium masquerading as a Group 4 element:: synthesis, structure and computational characterisation of [CeCl{N(SiMe3)2}3]

Oxidation of the three-coordinate cerium amide [Ce{N(SiMe3)(2)}(3)] with TeCl4 in toluene solution yields purple, diamagnetic [CeCl{N(SiMe3)(2)}(3)] , whose structure has been examined by X-ray crystallographic and computational methods.