Facile access to tuneable Schwartz's reagents: oxidative addition products from the reaction of amide N-H bonds with reduced zirconocene complexes.

On the tracks of Schwartz's reagent: Two zirconocene hydrido amidate complexes are synthesized by formal oxidative addition of amide NH bonds to reduced zirconocene fragments. Insertion reactions with alkenes show a different behavior than Schwartz's reagent by forming branched insertion products. The insertion product and the hydrido complex are characterized by X-ray analysis.