Divalent carbon insertions into Group IV hydrides and halides
ABSTRACT A summary, dealing in large part with the author's own work, is presented of reactions in which a methylene bridge (CH2, CHX, CX2, etc.) is introduced into a Group IV element-to-other element covalent bond In these reactions M is silicon, germanium, tin or lead; Y can be hydrogen, halogen, carbon, mercury and, in the case of tin, another tin. The reagents which effect such methylenations include diazoalkanes, carbenes and ‘carbenoid’ organometallics. Emphasis is placed on carbenes generated via phenyl(trihalomethyl)mercury compounds and on diazomethane. The scope and mechanism of these reactions are discussed.