Hydrocarbon-soluble β-diketiminato phenylcalcium derivatives, which display various modes of CaÀ μ 2 -PhÀ Ca bridging, are accessible from reactions of Ph 2 Hg and [(BDI)CaH] 2 . Although the resultant compounds are inert toward the CÀ H bonds of benzene, they yield selective and uncatalyzed biaryl formation when reacted with readily available aryl bromides.

Reaction of BeCl2 with the dilithium diamide, [{SiNDipp}Li2] ({SiNDipp} = {CH2SiMe2NDipp}2), provides the dimeric chloroberyllate, [{SiNDippBeCl)Li]2, en route to the 2-coordinate beryllium amide, [SiNDippBe]. Lithium or sodium reduction of [SiNDippBe]...

Paradoxically, N- and O-donor substituted tri-arylphosphanes are shown to be weaker donors than PPh when binding the soft Lewis acid moiety [PPh]. This arises from internal solvation and rehybridisation at phosphorus, precluding chelation and increasing steric demand, in direct contrast to coordination modes observed for metal complexes.