The elusive tripodal tris(2-pyridyl)borate ligand: a strongly coordinating tetraarylborate.

Tris(2-pyridyl)borates are introduced as a new robust and tunable "scorpionate"-type ligand family. A facile synthesis of this hitherto unknown ligand and its complexation to Fe(II) are described; the optical and electrochemical properties of the resulting iron complex are compared to complexes derived from tris(pyrazolyl)borate, tris(2-pyridyl)aluminate, and corresponding charge-neutral ligands.