Germanium compounds trifluoromethyl derivatives

Attempted syntheses of trifluoromethyl derivatives of germanium, tin, and lead by thermal decarboxylation either resulted in decomposition of the trifluoroacetate without forming carbon dioxide (22,39,40) or gave carbon dioxide but no trifluoromethyl organometallic (22). In the latter case, the metal fluoride was detected. This suggests that the trifluoromethyl compound is thermally unstable and decomposes by fluoride abstraction. 

Bis(trifluoromethyl)mercury was found to react at elevated temperatures with both tin and germanium tetrahalides, resulting in a number of CF3-containing compounds including the fully substituted derivative of germanium, (CF3)4Ge Eq. (5)1. The reaction of tin tetrabromide with (CF3)2Hg, on the other hand, yielded only CF3SnBr3 and (CF3)2SnBr2, as shown in Eq. (6) (102). 

Of the bis(trifluoromethyl)cadmium derivatives obtained to date, the glyme adduct, (CF3)2Cd glyme, is the best compromise between chemical reactivity and thermal stability this compound appears to be almost a classic example of a lightly stabilized species, one which is stabilized enough to be isolatable but which is still quite reactive (107). That this material is a much more effective reagent than, for example, (CF3)2Cd 2 pyridine, can be most easily seen from the results of the reactions of these compounds with a second class of substrates, the halides of germanium and tin. Within 15 min at ambient temperature... 

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