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Updated: Jan 6, 2026

Synthesis of Nine-atom Deltahedral Zintl Ions of Germanium and their Functionalization with Organic Groups
Published on: February 11, 2012
An isolable germa-isonitrile featuring a terminal nitrogen-germanium triple bond
Zixu Wang1, Chengxiang Ding2, Yizhen Chen1
1Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry of Ministry of Education, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Functional Molecular Engineering, School of Chemistry, IGCME, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
None:
Isonitriles (R-N≡C), first discovered by Lieke in 1859, are well-established functional molecules in organic and organometallic chemistry. By contrast, the synthesis and investigation of tetrela-isonitriles (R-N≡E, E = Si, Ge, Sn or Pb), their heavier group 14 analogues, remain challenging due to their high reactivity. The characterization of such species has largely relied on spectroscopic data collected at cryogenic temperatures or under gas-phase conditions. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of a germa-isonitrile (Ar-N≡Ge) stabilized by a bulky aryl ligand. This compound, which features a terminal N≡Ge triple bond with a Ge‒N bond length of 1.6395(19) Å, has been characterized through X-ray crystallographic, solid-state ¹⁵N nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic and computational studies. The highly polarized N≡Ge moiety exhibits versatile reactivity towards organic substrates and transition metal precursors, underscoring its potential use in synthetic chemistry.
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