Hydrolysis of (Me3SiCH2)PhSnCl2. Isomerisation of the dimeric tetraorganodistannoxane [(Me3SiCH2)Ph(Cl)SnOSn(Cl)Ph(CH2SiMe3)]2

The hydrolysis of (Me3SiCH2)PhSnCl2(1) was studied under two different reaction conditions (i) by using an excess of aqueous NaOH in toluene at reflux temperature and (ii) by using small amounts of NEt3 and water in CH2Cl2 at room temperature. For (i) the products (Me3SiCH2)Ph2SnOSnPh2(CH2SiMe3)(2) and [(Me3SiCH2Sn) 12O14(OH)6](OH)2(3) were isolated indicating that a phenyl group migration took place. For (ii) the dimeric tetraorganodistannoxane [(Me3SiCH2)Ph(Cl)SnOSn(Cl)Ph(CH2SiMe3)]2(4) was obtained. In solution, 4 exists as an equilibrium mixture of all five possible isomers 4a–4e; in the solid state two of these isomers 4d and 4e cocrystallized in the same crystal modification. The observation of interconvertible isomers of 4 was attributed to the kinetic lability of the ladder-like Sn4O2Cl4 structural motif. Compounds 1 and 4 were investigated by X-ray crystallography.