Synthesis and crystal structure of the first lanthanide complex of N-confused porphyrin with an η2 agostic C-H interaction

The reaction of Ln[N(SiMe3)(2)](3)center dot[LiCl(THF)(3)](x) (Ln = Yb and Er) with N-confused tetraphenylporphyrin (H2NCTPP) followed by Na(L-OMe) (L-OMe = (eta(5)-C5H5)Co[P(=O)(OMe)(2)]) gives (NCTPP)Ln(L-OMe), whose X-ray structures exhibit an eta(2) agostic interaction between the metal centre and the inner C-H bond of the NCTPP ligand.