LITHIUM ANILIDE COMPLEXED BY PMDETA - EXPECTATION OF A SIMPLE MONOMER, BUT IN REALITY AN ODD TRINUCLEAR COMPOSITION COMBINING 3-COORDINATE,4-COORDINATE AND 5-COORDINATE LITHIUM

Lithium structural chemistry continues to surprise as highlighted here by the reaction of Bu(n)Li, aniline and pmdeta, which by analogy with related systems, should yield a simple monomeric complex, when, in fa ct, an unprecedented trinuclear formulation is produced; in contrast, the corresponding Na system falls into line with predictions, in yield ing a dimeric product.