Application of the Donor-Acceptor Concept to Intercept Low Oxidation State Group 14 Element Hydrides using a Wittig Reagent as a Lewis Base

This article outlines our attempts to stabilize the Group 14 element dihydrides, GeH2 and SnH2, using commonly employed phosphine and pyridine donors; in each case, elemental Ge and Sn extrusion was noted. However, when these phosphorus and nitrogen donors were replaced with the ylidic Wittig ligand Ph3P=CMe2, stable inorganic methylene complexes (EH2) were obtained, demonstrating the utility of this under-explored ligand class in advancing main group element coordination chemistry.