Activation of Ge−H and Sn−H Bonds with N‐Heterocyclic Carbenes and a Cyclic (Alkyl)(amino)carbene

A study of the reactivity of several N‐heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) and the cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbene 1‐(2,6‐di‐iso‐propylphenyl)‐3,3,5,5‐tetramethyl‐pyrrolidin‐2‐ylidene (cAAC\(^{Me}\)) with the group 14 hydrides GeH2Mes2 and SnH2Me2 (Me=CH\(_{3}\), Mes=1,3,5‐(CH\(_{3}\))\(_{3}\)C\(_{6}\)H\(_{2}\)) is presented. The reaction of GeH\(_{2}\)Mes\(_{2}\) with cAAC\(^{Me}\) led to the insertion of cAAC\(^{Me}\) into one Ge−H bond to give cAAC\(^{Me}\)H−GeHMes\(_{2}\) (1). If 1,3,4,5‐tetramethyl‐imidazolin‐2‐ylidene (Me\(_{2}\)Im\(^{Me}\)) was used as the carbene, NHC‐mediated dehydrogenative coupling occurred, which led to the NHC‐stabilized germylene Me\(_{2}\)Im\(^{Me}\)⋅GeMes\(_{2}\) (2). The reaction of SnH\(_{2}\)Me\(_{2}\) with cAAC\(^{Me}\) also afforded the insertion product cAAC\(^{Me}\)H−SnHMe\(_{2}\) (3), and reaction of two equivalents Me\(_{2}\)Im\(^{Me}\) with SnH\(_{2}\)Me\(_{2}\) gave the NHC‐stabilized stannylene Me\(_{2}\)Im\(^{Me}\)⋅SnMe\(_{2}\) (4). If the sterically more demanding NHCs Me\(_{2}\)Im\(^{Me}\), 1,3‐di‐isopropyl‐4,5‐dimethyl‐imidazolin‐2‐ylidene (iPr\(_{2}\)Im\(^{Me}\)) and 1,3‐bis‐(2,6‐di‐isopropylphenyl)‐imidazolin‐2‐ylidene (Dipp\(_{2}\)Im) were employed, selective formation of cyclic oligomers (SnMe\(_{2}\))\(_{n}\) (5; n=5–8) in high yield was observed. These cyclic oligomers were also obtained from the controlled decomposition of cAAC\(^{Me}\)H−SnHMe\(_{2}\) (3)