The monomeric title zirconium(IV) compound, [Zr(C(12)H(21)N(2)Si)(2)Cl(2)], was prepared by the metathetical reaction of [LiN(SiMe(2)NMe(2))(2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3))](2) with zirconium tetra-chloride. The Zr(IV) atom is N,N'-chelated by the N-silylated anilido ligand. Along with two Cl atoms, the six-coordinated Zr(IV) atom demonstrates a highly distorted octa-hedral geometry. The two ligands around the Zr(IV) atom are arranged cis to each other and obey the C(2) symmetry operation. That means the asymmetric unit consists of only half of the mol-ecular compound and the complete mol-ecule is generated by a twofold axis. The two ends of the N-Si-N chelating unit exhibit different affinities for the metal center. The Zr-N(amino) bond is longer than the Zr-N(anilido) bond.