Some Aspects of the Reactivity of the First Stable Germaphosphene

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00236a016

Germaphosphene 1, the first stable compound with a germanium-phosphorous double bond, is very reactive toward compounds with active hydrogens producing secondary phosphines with a high regiospecificity and toward halogens to give adducts 11 and halogermylphosphines 12.Reaction with carbon tetrachloride allows, after addition followed by β-elimination, the quantitative synthesis of phosphaalkene 16. 1 reacts easily with nucleophilic compounds such as lithio compounds and Grignard reagents and probably via a radical process with dimethyl disulfide.The germanium-phosphorous double bond of 1 is reduced by lithium aluminum hydride and by the complex BH3*SMe2 with formation of the germylphosphine 22; in the last case, a competitive addition of borane to the double bond was also observed.