Stabilization of Three-Coordinated Germanium(II) and Tin(II) Cations by a Neutral Chelating Ligand

Abstract

Treatment of the neutral 2-[C(CH3)═N(C6H3-2,6-iPr2)]-6-(CH3O)C6H3N ligand (hereafter assigned as L) with SnCl2 and GeCl2 provided the ionic germanium(II) and tin(II) complexes [LGeIICl]+[GeIICl3]− (1) and [LSnIICl]+[SnIICl3]− (2), respectively, as the result of spontaneous dissociation of ECl2 (E = Ge, Sn). The cationic parts [LEIICl]+ of 1 and 2 contain three-coordinated germanium(II) and tin(II) atoms. In comparison, treatment of the ligand L with GeCl4 and SnBr4 yielded the germanium(IV) and tin(IV) complexes LGeCl4 (3) and LSnBr4 (4), respectively, and no dissociation process was observed. Compounds 1–4 were characterized by means of elemental analyses, 1H, 13C, and 119Sn NMR spectroscopies, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis in (compounds 1 and 4).