Never a dull moment with praseodymium metal

Unexpectedly, a mixture of bismuth N,N'-bis(2,6-diisopropyl-phenyl)formamidinates in three different oxidation states namely, [Bi-2(I)(DippForm)2] (1), [BiII2(DippForm)2(C6F5)(2)] (2) and [Bi-III(DippForm)(2)(C6F5)] (3), together with [Pr(DippForm)2F (thf)].PhMe (4), [p-HC(6)F(4)DippForm].(0.5)thf (5), and a ring-opened tetrahydrofuran [o-HC6F4O(CH2)4DippForm] (6) was obtained by the reaction of an excess of praseodymium metal with tris(pentafluorophenyl )bismuth, [Bi(C(6)F5)3].(0.5)dioxane, and bulky N,N'-bis (2,6-diisopropylphenyl)formamidine (DippFormH) in tetrahydrofuran. Similar reactions between praseodymium metal, [Bi (C6F5)(3)].0.5dioxane and 3,5-diphenylpyrazole (Ph(2)pzH), or 3,5-ditert-butylpyrazole (tBu2pzH), yielded the paddlewheel dibismuthanes [Bi-2(II)(Ph(2)pz)(4)].dioxane (7) and [Bi-2(II)(Ph(2)pz)(4)] (8) respectively.

Automated summary

A mixture of bismuth compounds in different oxidation states was obtained by the reaction of praseodymium metal with tris(pentafluorophenyl)bismuth and bulky N,N'-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)formamidine in tetrahydrofuran. Similar reactions also resulted in the formation of two similar compounds.