Some reactions of tris(trimethylstannyl)- and tetrakis(trimethylstannyl)-methane

With a variety of electrophilic reagents reaction occurs exclusively at the CH₃Sn bonds of (CH₃)₃Sn]₄C and (CH₃)₃Sn]₃CH. While the inner SnC bonds remain intact, methyl groups may be progressively cleaved off, one from each of the trimethylstannyl groups; in the case of bromine a second Me group may be cleaved from each of the SnMe₂Br groups. The various products were identified by ¹H, ¹³C and ¹¹⁹Sn NMR spectroscopy.