A non-symmetric sulfur-based O,C,O-chelating pincer ligand leading to chiral germylene and stannylene.

New chiral heteroleptic germanium(ii) and tin(ii) metallylenes were obtained using 1-(para-tolylsulfinyl)-3-tosyl-5-tert-butyl-benzene as a non-symmetric O,C,O-chelating pincer ligand. Crystallographic analysis and DFT calculations indicate that the non-symmetric sulfinyl-sulfonyl pincer ligand acts as an O,C,O-coordinating pincer-type-ligand with predominant sulfinyl intramolecular S[double bond, length as m-dash]O coordination to germanium(ii) and tin(ii) centers.