Reactivity Studies of a Ge1-Ge1 Compound with and without Cleavage of the Ge-Ge Bond

This Communication describes two strikingly different reactivities of a digermylene [{PhC(NtBu)(2)}(2)Ge-2] (1) featuring a Ge-1-Ge-1 single bond. In the reaction with azobenzene, 1 affords the oxidative addition product LGeN(Ph)N(Ph)GeL [2; L = PhC(NtBu)(2)], with simultaneous cleavage of the Ge-Ge bond, whereas treatment of 1 with Fe-2(CO)(9) yields the Lewis acid-base adduct LGe[Fe(CO)(4)]Ge[(Fe(CO)(4)]L (3). Both compounds were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, NMR spectroscopy, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis.