The coordination chemistry of the bis(tert-butylamido)phenylborane ligand, ((BuN)-Bu-t-B-Ph-(NBu)-Bu-t](2-), is developed. The ligand can be delivered to metals of groups 4 and 5 from its dilithio salt. The reactions of PhB((BuNLi)-Bu-t)(2), 1, with metal halides of zirconium, hafnium, and vanadium generate complexes of the general formulas ((BuN)-Bu-t-B-Ph-(NBu)-Bu-t)(2)M(THF) (M = Zr (2), Hf (3)), Li-2[M((BuN)-Bu-t-BPh-NtBu)(3)] (M = Zr (4), Hf (5)), and M((BuN)-Bu-t-BPh-(NBu)-Bu-t)2 (M = V (6)). H-1 and B-11{H-1} NMR and single-crystal X-ray analysis show that these amido metal complexes are structurally analogous to amidinates.