A monomeric thallium(I) amide in the solid state: synthesis and structure of TlN(Me)ArMes2 (ArMes2 = C6H3-2,6-Mes2).

Reaction of TlCl and [LiN(Me)Ar(Mes)2](2) [Ar(Mes)2 = C(6)H(3)-2,6-(C(6)H(2)-2,4,6-Me(3))(2)] in Et(2)O generated the thallium amide, TlN(Me)Ar(Mes)2 (1). X-ray data showed that it has a monomeric structure with an average Tl-N distance of 2.364(3) Angstroms. There was also a Tl-arene approach [Tl-centroid = 3.026(2) Angstroms (avg)] to a flanking mesityl ring from the terphenyl substituent. DFT calculations showed that this interaction is weak and supported essentially one coordination for thallium. The electronic spectrum of 1 is hypsochromically shifted in comparison to the monomeric TlAr(Trip)2 (Trip = C(6)H(2)-2,4,6-Pr(i)(3)).