Vibrational spectra and structural features of carbene analogs ElII(OCH2CH2NMe2)2 and ClElIIOCH2CH2NMe2 (ElII = Ge, Sn, Pb)

Vibrational spectra of compounds of divalent Group 14 elements El^II(OCH₂CH₂NMe₂)₂ with El^II = Ge (1), Sn (2), Pb (3) and ClEl^IIOCH₂CH₂NMe₂ with El^II = Ge (4) and Sn (5) were measured for the first time and analyzed within the framework of DFT calclations. Monomeric compounds 1 and 2 whose molecules are stabilized only through intramolecular coordination were confirmed to be isostructural. Unlike 1 and 2, plumbylene 3 is a polymer in both solution and the crystalline state; the latter was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The ν^s _C-N stretching frequency in the CH₂NMe₂ fragment was shown to decrease by 80–100 cm⁻¹ owing to the formation of the coordination bond El←N. To elucidate the mechanism of a dynamic flip-flop process suggested earlier based on the broadening of some signals in the NMR spectra of compounds 1 and 4, the Raman spectra of solutions of compounds 1 and 2 in THF and Py were obtained. These experiments revealed no equilibrium with participation of a stable form with one coordination bond El←N cleaved along with the starting molecule. This is consistent with the results of the corresponding quantum chemical calculations of thermo-dynamic parameters. A somewhat different, more probable mechanism of the dynamic process was proposed, which involves an overturn of the CH₂NMe₂ fragment with cleavage of the El←N bond in the transition state only.