RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ORGANOLANTHANIDE CHEMISTRY

The field of organolanthanide chemistry was pioneered by Wilkinson and Birmingham, who obtained tris-cyclopentadienyl derivatives of lanthanides in the early 1950s. Over the last six decades, this field has witnessed a steady growth leading to many applications. Lanthanide alkyls have drawn attention of chemists because of their Lewis acid properties finding applications in catalytic reactions and various organic transformations. They can also serve as starting materials for synthesising new lanthanide compounds. One of the current interests is focused towards using alkyl lanthanides to obtain molecular hydrido lanthanide compounds. These hydrido compounds are thought to be potential compounds for C—H bond activation and may also serve as model compounds for understanding hydrogen storage materials. Organo hetero- bimetallic compounds involving lanthanide metal centres have assumed significance due to their multifunctional and cooperative effects. Recently, the reactivity of tetramethylaluminate derivatives of lanthanides has been investigated. The findings point out that, two different mechanisms namely C—H bond activation and/or LnIII?LnII reduction processes, are operating in these reactions.