Distorted germyllithium induced by intramolecular coordination of an aminogroup: Synthesis and structures of {Tris[2-(dimethylamino)phenyl]germyl}lithium

{Tris[2-(dimethylamino)phenyl] germyl}lithium (1) has been prepared. The X- ray analysis shows that 1 exists as a monochelated monomer in the solid sta te, where the lithium atom is coordinated to one of the amino groups and tw o THF molecules. The interaction between the lithium atom and the amino gro up induces the distortion of the geometry around the germanium atom. In sol ution, however, two species exist as evidenced by H-1-, Li-7-, and C-13-NMR spectra. The temperature-dependent behavior of these two species has been analyzed by variable-temperature NMR studies.