CS2 Reductive Coupling to Acetylenedithiolate by a Dinuclear Ytterbium(II) Complex.

The activation of CS2 is of interest in a broad range of fields and, more particularly, in the context of creating new C-C bonds. The reaction of the dinuclear ytterbium(II) complex [Yb2 L4 ], 1, [L=(OtBu)3 SiO- ] with carbon disulfide led to the isolation of unprecedented reduction products. In particular, the crystallographic characterization of complex [Yb2 L4 (μ-C2 S2 )], 2, provided the first example of an acetylenedithiolate ligand formed from metal reduction of CS2 . Computational studies indicated that this unprecedented reactivity can be ascribed to the unusual binding mode of CS2 2- in the isolated "key intermediate" [Yb2 L4 (μ-CS2 )], 3, which results from the dinuclear nature of 1.