Synthesis and structural characterization of Group 14 complexes containing two {9-[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]fluorenyl-} ligands and a unique coupling product

Reaction of two equivalents of {9-[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]fluorenyl}lithium (FlNLi) with either Me2GeCl2 or Me2SnCl2 leads cleanly to the new compounds (FlN)2MMe2, where M=Ge, Sn. These new complexes are the first compounds that contain multiple FlN ligands which have been characterized by X-ray diffraction. Attempts to prepare the analogous Pb compound using Et2PbCl2 were not successful, yielding instead a product where the two FlN ligands have coupled. Structural characterization of the coupled product is presented. Neither of the main-group complexes showed significant activity for the polymerization of propylene using either MAO or BARF salts as activators.