Unusual alkali metal α- or β-phenyl(trimethylsilyl)amidesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: spectroscopic and analytical data, details of crystallography, and comparative data for 1–4, 7 and 8. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/cc/b0/b003169k/No reprints available.

Abstract

The synthesis (1–3 and 5) and structures (1–5) of the crystalline, hydrocarbon-soluble metal amides [M{μ-N(SiMe₃)(SiMe₂Ph)}(NCBu^t )_n]₂ [n = 0 and M = Li 1 (cis), M = Na 2 (trans) having intermolecular Na⋯C contacts, or n = 1 and M = Na (cis) 3], [Li{μ-N(SiMe₃)Ph}-cis]₂[μ- {N(SiMe₃)Ph}Li-cis]₂ 4 and trans-[Na{μ-N(SiMe₃)Ph}(tmen)] 5 are reported.