Exchange reactions between oxygen and sulphur derivatives of silicon, germanium, tin and lead

The exchange of oxygen functional groups (--- OR, --- O --- and --- OCOMe) and sulphur functional groups (--- SR, --- S --- ) between R₃M (M = Si, Ge, Sn and Pb) and R₂M (M = Si, Sn) shows, in general, the heavier Group IV element to prefer sulphur. This supports the phenomenological rationalisation that the softness of the organometallic residue increase with the atomic weight of M, though germanium probably resembles silicon in its behaviour far more that it does tin.