Isolation and structural characterization of geminal di(iodozincio)methane complexes stabilized with nitrogen ligands

Treatment of gem-di(iodozincio)methane with pyridine or diamine derivatives resulted in the isolation of a storable gem-di(iodozincio)methane species. Use of the sterically bulky bipyridine ligand gave a gem-di(iodozincio)methane complex, which allowed the first X-ray structural analysis of such species. This work represents a rare example of the isolation of an organometallic reactive species in Schlenk equilibrium and thus provides new insight into the design of efficient and storable organometallic reagents. The isolated gem-di(iodozincio)methane complexes serve as effective methylene dianion synthons for olefination of carbonyl compounds.