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Updated: Jul 8, 2026

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Facile activation of dihydrogen by an unsaturated heavier main group compound
Geoffrey H Spikes1, James C Fettinger, Philip P Power
1Department of Chemistry, University of California Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, USA.
Abstract:
The germanium alkyne analogue Ar'GeGeAr' (1, Ar' = C6H3-2,6(C6H3-2,6-Pri2)2) reacts with 1, 2, or 3 equiv of dihydrogen at room temperature, and at 1 atm pressure, to afford a mixture of the products Ar'HGeGeHAr' (2), Ar'H2GeGeH2Ar' (3), or Ar'GeH3 (4). The relative amounts of each product are governed by the number of equivalents of hydrogen used. A mechanism for the initial step in the reaction is proposed. The appearance of 4 among the reaction products was accounted for in terms of either its dissociation to monomers or isomerization to the bridged Ar'Ge(mu-H)2GeAr'. The reactions were monitored by 1H NMR spectroscopy. The products 2, 3, and 4 were characterized by X-ray crystallography, and 4 was synthesized independently by the reduction of Ar'Ge(OMe)3. These reactions represent the first direct addition of hydrogen to a closed shell unsaturated main group compound under ambient conditions.
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