Sodium-mediated manganation: direct mono- and dimanganation of benzene and synthesis of a transition-metal inverse-crown complex.

Inside out approach: Twofold deprotonation of benzene by a sodium monoalkyl bisamido manganate(II) reagent derived from BuNa, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine, and Mn(CH2SiMe3)2 has produced the first inverse-crown complex in which the transition-metal atoms are incorporated in the host (see X-ray structure, blue N, green Na, purple Mn). Variable-temperature magnetization measurements show that the complex is antiferromagnetic.