Reactivity studies of a Ge(I)-Ge(I) compound with and without cleavage of the Ge-Ge bond.

This Communication describes two strikingly different reactivities of a digermylene [{PhC(NtBu)(2)}(2)Ge(2)] (1) featuring a Ge(I)-Ge(I) single bond. In the reaction with azobenzene, 1 affords the oxidative addition product LGeN(Ph)N(Ph)GeL [2; L = PhC(NtBu)(2)], with simultaneous cleavage of the Ge-Ge bond, whereas treatment of 1 with Fe(2)(CO)(9) yields the Lewis acid-base adduct LGe[Fe(CO)(4)]Ge[(Fe(CO)(4)]L (3). Both compounds were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, NMR spectroscopy, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis.