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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Isolating Free Carbenes, their Mixed Dimers and Organic Radicals
Published on: April 19, 2019
Isolation of Transient Acyclic Germanium(I) Radicals Stabilized by Cyclic Alkyl(amino) Carbenes
Mujahuddin M Siddiqui1, Samir Kumar Sarkar1, Soumen Sinhababu1
1Institut für Anorganische Chemie , Universität Göttingen , Tammannstrasse 4 , 37077 , Göttingen , Germany.
Abstract:
Despite the notable progress in the stabilization of main group radicals by NHCs and cAACs, no germanium radicals have been isolated so far due to synthetic challenges. Stabilization of neutral [:EIR]• (E = Si, Ge) radicals is an uphill task, as these reactive transient species are highly susceptible to dimerization. Herein, we report the synthesis of acyclic neutral germanium(I) radicals Cy-cAAC:GeN(SiMe3)Dip (1) and Me-cAAC:GeN(SiPh3)Mes (2) obtained by the reduction of [Ar(SiR3)NGeCl3] with KC8 in the presence of cAAC. Compounds 1 and 2 are well characterized by single crystal X-ray structural analysis, cyclic voltammetry, and EPR spectroscopy. Furthermore, the structure and bonding of compounds 1 and 2 have been investigated by theoretical methods.
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