Reactivity of Pyridyl-1-azaallyl Germanium(I) Dimer: Synthesis of a Digermahydrazine Derivative and an Iron-Coordinated Germanium(I) Dimer

Reactivity of the pyridyl-1-azaallyl germanium­(I) dimer LGeGeL (2; L = N­(SiMe3)­C­(Ph)­C­(SiMe3)­(C5H4N-2)) has been investigated. Treatment of germanium­(I) dimer 2 with 1 equiv of azobenzene afforded the pyridyl-1-azaallyl digermahydrazine derivative [LGeNPh]2 (3). The reaction of 2 with 1 and 2 equiv of diiron nonacarbonyl, Fe2(CO)9, afforded the novel unsymmetric germanium­(I) complex [LGeGe­(Fe­(CO)4)­L] (4) and the diiron Lewis acid–base adduct [LGe­(Fe­(CO)4)]2 (5). The solid-state structure of 4 reveals that the two germanium­(I) centers within the same molecule have different coordinating geometries. Compound 4 can also be prepared by the facile reaction of the pyridyl-1-azaallyl germanium­(II) chloride LGeCl (1) with Collman’s reagent, Na2Fe­(CO)4.