Oxidative coupling of silylated nonagermanide clusters.

Polyhedral main group element clusters of tetrel elements are discussed as suitable building units to form atom-precise nano-structures. Herein we report the oxidative coupling of two [Ge 9 {Si(TMS) 3 } 2 ] 2- clusters (TMS = trimethylsilyl) resulting in the dimeric cluster [Ge 9 {Si(TMS) 3 } 2 ] 2 2- . The dimer is structurally characterized as the [NHC iPr Cu] + adduct {NHC iPr Cu[Ge 9 {Si(TMS) 3 } 2 ]} 2 [NHC iPr = 1,3-di(isopropyl)imidazolylidine]. The linkage of two molecular [Ge 9 {Si(TMS) 3 } 2 ] 2- anions under formation of an exo Ge-Ge bond occurs in the presence of Cy 2 BCl (Cy = cyclohexyl) and is mediated by trace amounts of oxygen as indicated by the isolation of the by-product Cy 2 B-O-BCy 2 .