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Allylgermanes with a 4‐, 5‐, and 6‐coordinated germanium center were characterized by X‐ray crystallography. Cationic 6‐coordinated group 14 allylmetals, which were hitherto assumed to be a transition‐state structure of allylations, were successfully isolated. Forming high coordination states significantly enhanced the reactivity of the allylgermanes. In contrast to the 4‐coordinated allylgermanes with low reactivity, the highly coordinated species readily reacted with several aldehydes. Furthermore, the high coordination states exerted a significant effect on the E/Z selectivity of allylation depending on external additives. The coordination structure had a dramatic influence on the electronic and steric environments around the Ge center, enabling the geometrically controlled allylation of aldehydes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Group 14 enolates play an important part in many organic reactions. Herein, the reduction of an α-bromo ketone with germanium(II) salts cleanly afforded the corresponding germyl enolate as an isolatable species. This experimental reductive generation of a germyl enolate enabled us to characterize both C- and O-bound tautomers derived from an identical precursor and to unveil the tautomeric mechanisms, including the kinetic parameters and the relative stability of these tautomers, along with confirmation from DFT calculations. Moreover, the highly coordinated germyl enolates were isolated by a stabilization process induced by adding ligands. All products were characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]