Oxidation of germa- and stanna-closo-dodecaborateElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. CCDC 1040057-1040059. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c5dt00099h

• Main Authors: Gädt, Torben, Dimmer, Jörg-Alexander, Fleischhauer, Sebastian, Frank, Anita, Nickl, Claudia, Wütz, Tobias, Eichele, Klaus, Wesemann, Lars
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 24.02.2015
• ISSN: 1477-9226; 1477-9234
• DOI: 10.1039/c5dt00099h

The oxidation of closo -heteroborates [GeB 11 H 11 ] 2− and [SnB 11 H 11 ] 2− is presented. Upon oxidation germa- closo -dodecaborate yields a symmetrical dimer exhibiting a Ge-Ge bond between two clusters. This dimer shows sulphur insertion into the Ge-Ge bond at room temperature. In contrast, oxidation of the homologous tin cluster results in an unsymmetrical dimer bearing an Sn-B bond between two clusters. The Sn-B dimer is also the product of the hydride abstraction reaction. In the presence of the donor ligand 2,2′-bipyridine, the oxidation of closo -cluster [SnB 11 H 11 ] 2− leads to the Sn( iv )-half sandwich coordination compound [bipy-SnB 11 H 11 ] which dissolves in DMSO to give the Sn( iv )-adduct [bipy(DMSO)-SnB 11 H 11 ]. Oxidation of group 14 heteroborates [GeB 11 H 11 ] 2− and [SnB 11 H 11 ] 2− yields a symmetrical dimer exhibiting a Ge-Ge bond or an unsymmetrical dimer bearing an Sn-B bond.