Butyl­bis[μ-4-(2,4,6-trimethyl­phenyl­amino)pent-3-en-2-onato][4-(2,4,6-trimethyl­phenyl­amino)pent-3-en-2-onato]dimagnesium

The structure of the title compound, [Mg(2)(C(4)H(9))(C(14)H(18)NO)(3)], contains two Mg atoms bridged by two μ(2)-O atoms from two of the three ketiminate ligands, while the third ketiminate is strictly chelating to one of the Mg atoms, which is thereby five-coordinate. In place of a chelating ligand, the second Mg atom is ligated by a single terminal n-butyl group and thus is four-coordinate. This is, so far, the only structurally characterized mixed magnesium ketiminate–alkyl cluster. The geometry at the first Mg atom is close to trigonal-bipyramidal with one chelating and one bridging O atom in the axial positions and two chelating N and one bridging O atom in the equatorial positions. The geometry at the second Mg atom is very distorted from tetra­hedral, with an O—Mg—C angle of 131.0 (1)°.