Bis(imino)carbazolate: a master key for barium chemistry

Reported here is a readily available bis(imino)carbazole-based proligand that constitutes a convenient entry point into the challenging synthetic molecular chemistry of barium. It enables the preparation of rare or even, up to now, unknown, solution-stable heteroleptic barium complexes. The syntheses and structural features for the first molecular barium fluoride and the first barium stannylide, with an unsupported Ba-Sn bond, are described, along with other carbazolate barium species: an amide (both a remarkably stable starting material and an excellent hydrophosphination precatalyst), iodide, and silanylide. DFT analysis of bonding patterns in the barium stannylide and barium silanylide highlights a prevailingly ionic barium-tetrelide bond with a small covalent contribution.