Studies on molecular barium precursors for MOCVD: synthesis and characterization of barium 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate. X-ray crystal structure of [Ba(thd)2·Et2O]2

Ba(thd)2 (1) (thd = 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate) has been synthesized by reacting Hthd both with barium metal and with barium isopropoxide. Compound 1 readily forms the solvated complex [Ba(thd)2·Et2O]2 (2), which has been isolated and characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, IR, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray structural studies. Compound 2 is a dimeric species in which the two barium atoms are bridged through four oxygen atoms of two ?-diketonato ligands, while the other ligands, the remaining two thd- and two Et2O ligands are coordinated in a terminal mode.