Bis[(trimethylsilyl)methyl]manganese: Structural Variations of Its Solvent-Free and TMEDA-, Pyridine-, and Dioxane-Complexed Forms
First synthesized in 1976 and recently taking on a new significance as a key precursor to heterobimetallic alkali-metal-manganese(II) complexes, bis[(trimethylsilyl)methyl] manganese has been structurally characterized by X-ray crystallography. It forms a polymeric chain structure of formula [{Mn(CH2SiMe3)(2)}(infinity)], 1, in which distorted tetrahedral, spiro Mn atoms are linked together via mu(2)-bonding alkyl ligands. The structure is notable for displaying two distinct categories of Mn-C bond lengths with a mean size differential of 0.225 angstrom and for being the first fully crystallographically characterized polymeric manganese(II) dialkyl compound. Magnetic measurements of 1 indic…