Adduct formation or metathesis reactions of silver complexes containing the fluorinated ligands [HB(3,5-(CF3)2Pz)3]- and [CF3SO3]-: formation of silver adducts containing unsupported silver-germanium bonds.

A mixture of [HB(3,5-(CF3)2Pz)3]Ag(eta 2-toluene) and [(Me)2ATI]GeCl in CH2Cl2, rather than undergoing metathesis, formed a 1:1 adduct [HB(3,5-(CF3)2Pz)3]Ag<--GeCl[(Me)2ATI] (1, where [HB(3,5-(CF3)2Pz)3] = hydrotris(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)pyrazolyl)borate and [(Me)2ATI] = N-methyl-2-(methylamino)troponiminate) featuring a silver-germanium bond. Solutions of 1 (in CH2Cl2 or toluene) did not precipitate AgCl even after several days. However, it easily underwent metathesis with CF3SO3Ag, leading to the chloride-free product [HB(3,5-(CF3)2Pz)3]Ag<--Ge(OSO2CF3)[(Me)2ATI] (2). Compounds 1 and 2 were characterized by X-ray crystallography. The Ag-Ge bond distances of 1 and 2 are 2.4215(9) and 2.4116(10) A, respectively.