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Updated: Nov 17, 2025

Synthesis of Nine-atom Deltahedral Zintl Ions of Germanium and their Functionalization with Organic Groups
Published on: February 11, 2012
Carbene-mediated synthesis of a germanium tris(dithiolene)dianion
Phuong M Tran1, Yuzhong Wang1, Yaoming Xie2
1Department of Chemistry, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2556, USA. robinson@uga.edu.
Abstract:
While the 1 : 1 reaction of 3 with an N-heterocyclic carbene ({(Me)CN(i-Pr)}2C:) in THF resulted in ligand-substituted product 4, the corresponding 1 : 2 reaction (in the presence of H2O) gives the first structurally characterized germanium tris(dithiolene)dianion 5 as the major product and the "naked" dithiolene radical 6˙ as a minor by-product. The structure and bonding of 4 and 5 were probed by experimental and theoretical methods. Our study suggests that carbene-mediated partial hydrolysis may represent a new method to access tris(dithiolene) complexes of main-group elements.
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