Germane vs. digermane formation

Oxidative addition reactions of dialkylchalcogenanes R2E2 and [Me2Si(Nt-Bu)2]Ge 1 yielded bis(alkylchalcogeno)germanes Me2Si(Nt-Bu)2Ge(ER)2 (R = Et, E = S 2, Se 3; R = Me, E = Se 4) and digermanes [Me2Si(Nt-Bu)2Ge(EEt)]2 (E = S 5, Se 6). The reaction of 1 with Et2Te2 proceeds with formation of Me2Si(Nt-Bu)2Ge(TeEt)27, which slowly converts into the Te-bridged complex [Me2Si(Nt-Bu)2GeTe]28. 1–6 and 8 were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction.