Synthesis of Novel Metal−Germavinylidene Complexes from Bisgermavinylidene

The bisgermavinylidene [(Me3SiNPPh2)2CGe→GeC(PPh2NSiMe3)2] (1) has been used
as the source of unstable germavinylidene for the synthesis of a series of metal−germavinylidene complexes. Treatment of 1 with M(PPh3)4 (M = Ni, Pd) afforded the metal−germavinylidene complexes [{(Me3SiNPPh2)2CGe}2Ni(PPh3)2] (2) and [{(Me3SiNPPh2)2CGe-μ2}Pd(PPh3)]2 (3), respectively. The germavinylidene moiety from 1 acts as a two-electron
terminal and bridging ligand, respectively. Similar reaction of 1 with AgCl or AuI gave [(Me3SiNPPh2)2CGe(Ag)(Cl)]2 (5) and [(Me3SiNPPh2)2CGe(Au)(I)]2 (6), respectively. The
result has shown that the germavinylidene moiety from 1 behaves as a Lewis base and
undergoes an insertion reaction into the metal−halogen bond. X-ray structures of 2, 3, 5,
and 6 have been determined.