A magnesium-bis(diaryldiketiminate) complex

The 1:1 of reaction of di­butyl­magnesium with the ligand 2-[(2-iso­propyl­phenyl)­amino]-4-[(2-iso­propyl­phenyl)­imino]­pent-2-ene gives only the 1:2 metal-ligand compound bis­[N,N'-bis(2-iso­propyl­phenyl)­pentane-2,4-diiminato]­magnesium(II), [Mg(C23H29N2)2], as an isolated solid. The coordination geometry about the Mg atom is distorted tetrahedral [N - Mg - N angles range from 90.73 (5) to 136.40 (6)°], with the metal lying out of the ligand plane. The ligands themselves have non-crystallographic Cs geometry. The structure is isotypic with the Zn analogue, and the small differences between these two structures provide evidence for a significant covalent contribution to bonds that are generally described as largely ionic.