Versatile reactivity of a lithium tris(aryl)plumbate(II) towards organolanthanoid compounds: stable lead-lanthanoid-metal bonds or redox processes.

Redox chemistry: Redox-active europium complexes based on a new tris(2-pyridyl)plumbate ligand are described. Reactions of [LiPb(2-py(R))3(thf)] (py(R) = C5H3-6-OtBu) with tri- or divalent lanthanoid metals resulted in the first stable Pb-Ln-bonded complexes or unprecedented redox reactions, involving, for example, the pentametallic complex depicted.