Intermediate germyl

Cross-coupling to form carbon heteroatom bonds occurs by oxidative addition of an organic halide, generation of an aryl- or vinylpalladium amido, alkoxo, tholato, phosphido, silyl, stannyl, germyl, or boryl complex, and reductive elimination (Scheme 2). The relative rates and thermodynamics of the individual steps and the precise structure of the intermediates depend on the substrate and catalyst. A full discussion of the mechanism for each type of substrate and each catalyst is beyond the scope of this review. However, a series of reviews and primary literature has begun to provide information on the overall catalytic process.18,19,22,23,77,186... 

Germyl enol ethers react with perfluoroalkyl iodides under Et3B initiation to give a-pcrfluoroalkyl ketones. The intermediate radical adduct decomposes readily via /1-elimination and provides the a-perfluoroalkyl ketone and a trialkylgermanyl radical as a chain carrier (Scheme 12) [32]. 

Transient digermene 86 was postulated as possible intermediate in the reaction of 1,2-dichlorodigermacyclobutane 87 with Mg/MgBr2 in the presence of an alkene, leading to the bicyclic compound 8878 [Eq. (17)]. However, an electron transfer reaction with the intermediate formation of a germyl radical is also a possibility.78 Similarly, transient 1,2-digermacyclobu-... 

In situ ring enlargement of intermediate cyclopropanones to silyl- and germyl-substituted cyclobutanones was achieved by treatment of silyl- and germyl-substituted ketenes 12 with an excess of diazomethane.129,130... 

The high formal oxidation states of metals in some of these adducts is noteworthy, e.g., Fe(IV) (entries 17 and 18), Ru(IV) (entries 21 and 22), and Pt(IV) (entries 55 and 56). Such adducts are important because they provide definite examples of species often postulated as intermediates in oxidative addition-reductive elimination processes (compare Section II,G,1) and in homogeneous catalysis (134,220a, 410a). In the case of germanium, a tris(germyl) adduct of Pt(IV) has been described (57), but no more than two silyl groups per metal atom are known to result from oxidative addition. 

SCHEME 1. Putative rearrangement paths of germylenes and silylenes bearing silyl or germyl substituents. Proposed intermediates are given in brackets... 

Earlier suggestions of the involvement of free radical intermediates have stimulated the application of spin chemistry methods to the investigation of the detailed mechanism of the photolysis of a-germyl ketones in either polar or nonpolar solvents, in the presence or in the absence of traps of element-centered free radicals. Of special interest are problems of the multiplicity of the reactive state, and the transformations of the element-centered free radicals in the bulk. 

The lithiation of 1,3-oxathiane (296) takes place with s-BuLi at —78 °C to give 2-lithio-1,3-oxathiane (315), an analogue of 2-lithio-l,3-dithiane (161), but with lower stability487. This intermediate reacts with different electrophiles, such as alkyl halides, carbonyl compounds, benzonitrile, dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl diselenide, trimethylplumbyl acetate and trimethylsilyl, germyl and stannyl chlorides488,489. However, further deprotection of 2-substituted 1,3-oxathianes has not been reported yet. 

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