Size-Controlled Hapticity Switching in [Ln(C₉H₉)(C₈H₈)] Sandwiches

Sandwich complexes of lanthanides have recently attracted a considerable amount of interest due to their applications as Single Molecule Magnet (SMM). Herein, a comprehensive series of heteroleptic lanthanide sandwich complexes ligated by the cyclononatetraenyl (Cnt) and the cyclooctatetraenyl (Cot) ligand [Ln(Cot)(Cnt)] (Ln=Tb, Dy, Er, Ho, Yb, and Lu) is reported. The coordination behavior of the Cnt ligand has been investigated along the series and shows different coordination patterns in the solid-state depending on the size of the corresponding lanthanide ion without altering its overall anisotropy. Besides the characterization in the solid state by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and in solution by ¹H NMR, static magnetic studies and ab initio computational studies were performed.