Reversible CO 2 activation by a N -phosphinoamidinato digermyne.

The N -phosphinoamidinato digermynes [LG̈e-G̈eL] (L = t Bu 2 PNC(Ph)NAr, 4: Ar = 2,6-iPr 2 C 6 H 3 , 5: Ar = Ph) underwent reversible CO 2 activation to form [LG̈eOC(O)G̈eL] (6: Ar = 2,6-iPr 2 C 6 H 3 , 7: Ar = Ph). Compound 7 was further reacted with diphenylacetylene and hexafluorobenzene, which proceeded through compound 5 in the first step, to form CO 2 , [LG̈eC(Ph) = C(Ph) G̈eL] (8), [LG̈eF] (9) and [LG̈eC 6 F 5 ] (10), respectively.