Isolation of Transient Acyclic Germanium(I) Radicals Stabilized by Cyclic Alkyl(amino) Carbenes

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 [:(ER)-R-I](center dot) (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.