Syntheses and structures of magnesium, calcium, europium, gallium, and zinc complexes with bis(imino)acenaphthene ligands

The reduction of 1,2-bis(trimethylsilylimino)acenaphthene and 1,2-bis{[3,5-bis(trifluoromethylphenyl)]imino}acenaphthene with metals gave magnesium, calcium, europium, zinc, and gallium complexes containing radical-anion and dianionic ligands of the 1,2-diiminoacenaphthene type. Their structures were studied by 1H NMR, ESR, and/or single-crystal X-ray analysis. Some chemical transformations of the complexes were carried out.