Synthesis and Molecular Structure of Germanium and Tin Tetraphenylbutadienyl Based Heterocyclic Halides

Abstract

The reaction of 1,4-dilithiotetraphenylbutadiene with germanium(1V) chloride and tin(1V) chloride affords heterocycles Ph₄C₄GeCl₂, I and Ph₄C₄SnCl₂, II. Compounds I and II, which feature a planar tetraphenylbutadiene backbone, were characterized by elemental analyses, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The coordination environments for germanium and tin are distorted tetrahedra with bond angles spanning 35.35° for I and 24.86° for II. The Ge—Cl and bond distances are 2.134 Å and 2.143 Å in I, while the Sn—C1 and bond distances are 2.313 Å and 2.312 Å in II.