“…This prompted us to explore the potential for capturing molecular SnO or even the lighter congener of GeO utilizing non-pincer ligands. In this context, we used the monoanionic 3,5-di- tert -butyl-1,2,4-diazaphospholide ligand ([3,5- t Bu 2 dp] − ) ( 1 – ) − to prepare the 1,2,4-diazaphospholide-based germylene and stannylene M[η 2 ( N , N )-3,5- t Bu 2 dp] 2 (M = Ge ( 2 ), Sn ( 3 )) as molecular traps. Treating hydrolyzed Ge[N(SiMe 3 ) 2 ] 2 and Sn[N(SiMe 3 ) 2 ] 2 with 2 and 3 , respectively, resulted in the complex M(μ-O)[M{η 1 ( N )-(3,5- t Bu 2 dp)} 2 ] 2 (M = Ge ( 4 ), Sn ( 5 )), which contained the formally trapped MO (M = Ge, Sn) moiety.…”