Tris(N,N′-diisopropyl­benzamidinato)cerium(III)

The title compound, [Ce(C(13)H(19)N(2))(3)], was obtained in moderate yield (67%) by treatment of anhydrous cerium trichloride with three equivalents of Li[PhC(N(i)Pr)(2)] in tetra­hydro­furan. It is the first homoleptic lanthanide complex of this amidinate ligand. The central Ce(III) ion is coordinated by three chelating benzamidinate anions in a distorted octa­hedral fashion, with Ce—N distances in the narrow range 2.482 (2)–2.492 (2) Å. The dihedral angles between the phenyl rings and the chelating N—C—N units are in the range 73.3–87.9°, thus preventing conjugation between the two π-systems. The mol­ecule is located on a twofold rotation axis, and one of the phenyl rings is equally disordered over two alternative symmetry-equivalent positions around this axis.