Low-Symmetry β-Diketimine Aryloxide Rare-Earth Complexes: Flexible, Reactive, and Selective.

We report the synthesis, characterization, and reactivity of a new low-symmetry β-diketimine featuring a pendant amino(methyl)phenol donor and its corresponding heteroleptic rare-earth (RE) complexes. This includes the first structurally characterized examples of alcoholysis and insertion from an isolated RE amide in a β-diketimine framework. The flexible methylene linkage leads to RE complexes with tunable dynamic solution behavior that defines their stoichiometric and catalytic reactivity.