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The reaction of 2 equiv of LiC6H3-2,6-Mes2 (Mes = 2,4,6-Me3C6H2−) with GeCl2·dioxane, SnCl2, or PbCl2 in ether solution has resulted in the isolation of rare examples of monomeric, σ-bonded, diaryl derivatives M{C6H3-2,6-Mes2}2 (M = Ge (1), Sn (2), or Pb (3)). The compounds 1−3 are thermally stable, purple, crystalline solids with V-shaped geometries and remarkably wide (ca. 114.5°) interligand bond angles. The monoaryl metal chloride derivatives [M(Cl){C6H3-2,6-Mes2}]2 (M = Ge (4) or Sn (5)) were isolated by treatment of the appropriate dichlorides with either 1 equiv of LiC6H3-2,6-Mes2 or 1 equiv of the diaryls 1 or 2. The orange germanium compound 4 has a dimeric structure in which the monomers are linked by a relatively weak, 2.443(2) Å, Ge−Ge interaction. In sharp contrast, its yellow tin analogue 5 has a dimeric structure in which three-coordinate tin centers are associated by asymmetrically bridging chlorides. The compounds 1−3 constitute a unique, structurally characterized diaryl series for Ge, Sn, and Pb and display evidence of steric crowding that is significantly greater than that observed in previously known σ-bonded diorgano group 14 derivatives. The compounds 4 and 5 are the first fully structurally characterized organometal halide derivatives of Ge or Sn in which the organic ligand is monodentate, purely σ-bonded, and nonchelating.

The reduction of terphenylgermanium(II) or terphenyltin(II) chlorides with alkali metals was investigated. Treatment of Ar'GeCl or ArGeCl (Ar' = C(6)H(3)-2,6-Dipp(2), Dipp = C(6)H(3)-2,6-Pr(i)(2); Ar = C(6)H(3)-2,6-Trip(2), Trip = C(6)H(2)-2,4,6-Pr(i)(3)) with lithium, sodium, or potassium afforded the neutral alkyne analogues Ar'GeGeAr', 1, ArGeGeAr, 2, the singly reduced radical species NaArGeGeAr, 3, or KAr'GeGeAr', 4, or the doubly reduced compounds Li(2)Ar'GeGeAr', 5, Na(2)ArGeGeAr, 6, or K(2)ArGeGeAr, 7. Similarly, reduction of Ar'SnCl or ArSnCl afforded the neutral Ar'SnSnAr', 8, or ArSnSnAr, 9, the radical anions [(THF)(3)Na[rSnSnAr]], 10, [K(THF)(6)][Ar'SnSnAr'], 11, [K(THF)(6)][ArSnSnAr], 12, [K(18-crown-6)(THF)(2)] [ArSnSnAr], 13, or the doubly reduced Na(2)ArSnSnAr, 14, K(2)Ar'SnSnAr', 15, or K(2)ArSnSnAr, 16. The compounds were characterized by UV-vis, (1)H and (13)C NMR or EPR spectroscopy. The X-ray crystal structures of all compounds were determined except those of 2 and 9. The neutral 1 and 8 displayed planar, trans-bent CMMC (M = Ge and Sn) cores with M-M-C angles of 128.67(8) and 125.24(7) degrees, respectively. The M-M bond lengths, 2.2850(6) and 2.6675(4)A, indicated considerable multiple character and a bond order approaching two. Single and double reduction of the neutral species resulted in the narrowing of the M-M-C angles by ca. 12-32 degrees and changes in the Ge-Ge and Sn-Sn bond lengths. One-electron reduction afforded a slight (ca. 0.03-0.05A) lengthening of the Ge-Ge bonds in the case of germanium species 3 and 4 and a greater lengthening (ca. 0.13-0.15A) for the Sn-Sn bonds in the tin compounds 10-13. The addition of another electron yielded salts of the formal dianions [Ar'MMAr'](2)(-) and [ArMMAr](2)(-) which are isoelectronic to the corresponding doubly bonded, neutral arsenic and antimony derivatives. All the dianion salts were obtained as contact ion triples with two alkali metal cations complexed between aryl rings. The Ge-Ge bonds in the dianions of 5-7 were longer, whereas the Sn-Sn distances in the dianions in 14, 15, and 16 were shorter than those in the monoanions. Unusually, the Li(2)Ar'GeGeAr' salt, 5, displayed a longer Ge-Ge bond (by ca. 0.06A) than those of its Na(+) or K(+) analogue salts which was attributed to the greater polarizing power of Li(+). It was concluded that the M-M bond lengths in 3-7 and 10-16 are dependent on several factors that include M-M-C angle, Coulombic repulsion, alkali metal cation size, and the character of the molecular energy levels. The M-M bonding in the neutral compounds was accounted for in terms of a second-order Jahn-Teller mixing of sigma- and a pi-orbital which afforded bond orders near two for the neutral compounds, 1, 2, 8, and 9. Calculations on MeMMMe (M = Ge or Sn) model species showed that the LUMO corresponded to an orbital that had n(+) lone pair character. The slight Ge-Ge bond length increase upon one-electron reduction is consistent with these results, and the further bond lengthening upon double reduction is consiste...

A series of symmetric divalent Sn(II) hydrides of the general form [(4-X-Ar')Sn(mu-H)]2 (4-X-Ar' = C6H2-4-X-2,6-(C6H3-2,6-iPr2)2; X = H, MeO, tBu, and SiMe3; 2, 6, 10, and 14), along with the more hindered asymmetric tin hydride (3,5-iPr2-Ar*)SnSn(H)2(3,5-iPr2-Ar*) (16) (3,5-iPr2-Ar* = 3,5-iPr2-C6H-2,6-(C6H2-2,4,6-iPr3)2), have been isolated and characterized. They were prepared either by direct reduction of the corresponding aryltin(II) chloride precursors, ArSnCl, with LiBH4 or iBu2AlH (DIBAL), or via a transmetallation reaction between an aryltin(II) amide, ArSnNMe2, and BH3.THF. Compounds 2, 6, 10, and 14 were obtained as orange solids and have centrosymmetric dimeric structures in the solid state with long Sn...Sn separations of 3.05 to 3.13 A. The more hindered tin(II) hydride 16 crystallized as a deep-blue solid with an unusual, formally mixed-valent structure wherein a long Sn-Sn bond is present [Sn-Sn = 2.9157(10) A] and two hydrogen atoms are bound to one of the tin atoms. The Sn-H hydrogen atoms in 16 could not be located by X-ray crystallography, but complementary Mössbauer studies established the presence of divalent and tetravalent tin centers in 16. Spectroscopic studies (IR, UV-vis, and NMR) show that, in solution, compounds 2, 6, 10, and 14 are predominantly dimeric with Sn-H-Sn bridges. In contrast, the more hindered hydrides 16 and previously reported (Ar*SnH)2 (17) (Ar* = C6H3-2,6-(C6H2-2,4,6-iPr3)2) adopt primarily the unsymmetric structure ArSnSn(H)2Ar in solution. Detailed theoretical calculations have been performed which include calculated UV-vis and IR spectra of various possible isomers of the reported hydrides and relevant model species. These showed that increased steric hindrance favors the asymmetric form ArSnSn(H)2Ar relative to the centrosymmetric isomer [ArSn(mu-H)]2 as a result of the widening of the interligand angles at tin, which lowers steric repulsion between the terphenyl ligands.

The effects of different terphenyl ligand substituents on the quintuple Cr-Cr bonding in arylchromium(I) dimers stabilized by bulky terphenyl ligands (Ar) were investigated. A series of complexes, ArCrCrAr (1-4; Ar = C6H2-2,6-(C6H3-2,6-iPr2)2-4-X, where X = H, SiMe3, OMe, and F), was synthesized and structurally characterized. Their X-ray crystal structures display similar trans-bent C(ipso)CrCrC(ipso) cores with short Cr-Cr distances that range from 1.8077(7) to 1.8351(4) A. There also weaker Cr-C interactions [2.294(1)-2.322(2) A] involving an C(ipso) of one of the flanking aryl rings. The data show that the changes induced in the Cr-Cr bond length by the different substituents X in the para positions of the central aryl ring of the terphenyl ligand are probably a result of packing rather than electronic effects. This is in agreement with density functional theory (DFT) calculations, which predict that the model compounds (4-XC6H4)CrCr(C6H4-4-X) (X = H, SiMe3, OMe, and F) have similar geometries in the gas phase. Magnetic measurements in the temperature range of 2-300 K revealed temperature-independent paramagnetism in 1-4. UV-visible and NMR spectroscopic data indicated that the metal-metal-bonded solid-state structures of 1-4 are retained in solution. Reduction of (4-F3CAr')CrCl (4-F3CAr' = C6H2-2,6-(C6H3-2,6-iPr2)2-4-CF3) with KC8 gave non-Cr-Cr-bonded fluorine-bridged dimer {(4-F3CAr')Cr(mu-F)(THF)}2 (5) as a result of activation of the CF3 moiety. The monomeric, two-coordinate complexes [(3,5-iPr2Ar*)Cr(L)] (6, L = THF; 7, L = PMe3; 3,5-iPr2Ar* = C6H1-2,6-(C6H-2,4,6-iPr3)2-3,5-iPr2) were obtained with use of the larger 3,5-Pri2-Ar* ligand, which prevents Cr-Cr bond formation. Their structures contain almost linearly coordinated CrI atoms, with high-spin 3d5 configurations. The addition of toluene to a mixture of (3,5-iPr2Ar*)CrCl and KC8 gave the unusual dinuclear benzyl complex [(3,5-iPr2Ar*)Cr(eta3:eta6-CH2Ph)Cr(Ar*-1-H-3,5-iPr2)] (8), in which a C-H bond from a toluene methyl group was activated. The electronic structures of 5-8 have been analyzed with the aid of DFT calculations.