A monomeric three-coordinate magnesium bis(amide)

The metallation reaction between dibutylmagnesium and 2,6-diisopropyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)aniline gives the unusual monomeric three-coordinate complex (diethyl ether-kappaO)bis[2,6-diisopropyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)anilido-kappaN]magnesium(II), [Mg-(C15H26NSi)(2)(C4H10O)] or [Mg{(Me3Si)(2,6-(Pr2C6H3)-Pr-i)N}(2) (Et2O)]. This low-coordinate species has a distorted trigonal-planar coordination environment, with an additional short Mg-C-ipso contact of 2.799 (2) Angstrom.