Bi‐ and tridentate coordination behaviour of a novel bis(phosphinimino)methanide ligand

Herein, we report the synthesis of a novel ferrocenyl-functionalized bis(phosphinimino)methane ligand (CH$_2$(PPh$_2$NFc)$_2$). Deprotonation of CH$_2$(PPh$_2$NFc)$_2$ with KN(SiMe$_3$)$_2$ gave the dimeric species [K{CH(PPh$_2$NFc)$_2$}]$_2$, which was further reacted with ECl$_2$ (E=Ge, Sn) to yield the tetrylene compounds [{CH(PPh$_2$NFc)$_2$}ECl]. The ligand and the resulting tetrylenes were examined for their electrochemical properties with the aid of cyclic voltammetry. Furthermore, the reaction of the tetrylenes [{CH(PPh$_2$NFc)$_2$}ECl] with [AuC$_6$F$_5$(tht)] resulted in the bimetallic complexes [{(AuC$_6$F$_5$)CH(PPh$_2$NFc)$_2$}ECl] with an unusual Au coordination on the ligand backbone.