Reactivity of N-Heterocyclic Stannylenes: Oxidative Addition of Chalcogen Elements to a Chiral NH-Sn System.

The reactivity of the racemic N-heterocyclic stannylene [{MeHCN(^tBu)}Sn] (1) with the chalcogenide elements O₂, S, Se, and Te has been investigated. In the case of the reaction of 1 with molecular oxygen, the cyclic tristannoxane complex [{MeHCN(^tBu)}₂Sn(μ-O)]₃ (3) was isolated and characterised. NMR studies (¹H, ¹³C, and ¹¹⁹Sn) show the formation of D₃- and C₂- symmetric assemblies. The reaction of 1 with S, Se, and Te, respectively, yielded the cyclo-distannachalcogenide complexes, [{MeHCN(^tBu)}₂Sn(μ-E)]₃ (4: E = S, 5: E = Se, 6: E = Te), again with multinuclear NMR studies proving the formation of C₂- and C_s-symmetric assemblies. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies have been used to elucidate the molecular structures of the products of oxidative addition, 3, 4, 5, and 6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]