First structural evidence for multiple alkali metals between sandwich decks in a metallocene.

A tetralithio salt (1) derived by treating 1,4-bis(trimethylsilyl)-cyclooctatriene with (n)BuLi serves as the first structural evidence for a multi-alkali metallocene. Single-crystal XRD confirms two Li(+) each asymmetrically bind to η(3) and η(4) between two COT'' rings and two Li(+) terminally bind to η(3). Solid-state NMR studies confirm the presence of two distinct lithium ion sites while the solution NMR studies suggest the formation of an (COT'' dianion) ion-pair in solution. Further treating of the tetralithio salt with NaCl leads to linear sodium polymeric chains. Therefore, simply changing the ionic radius changes the molecular structure.