Gas Phase Formation of Methylgermylene (HGeCH3).

The methylgermylene molecule (HGeCH 3 ;X 1 A') has been synthesized via the bimolecular gas phase reaction of ground state methylidyne radicals (CH) with germane (GeH 4 ) under single collision conditions in crossed molecular beams experiments. Augmented by electronic structure calcu-la-tions, this elementary reaction was found to proceed thro-ugh barrierless insertion of the methylidyne radical in one of the four ger-ma-nium - hydrogen bonds on the doublet potential energy surface yielding the germylmethyl (CH 2 GeH 3 ;X 2 A') collision complex. This insertion is followed by a hydrogen shift from germanium to carbon and uni-mole-cular decomposition of the methylgermyl (GeH 2 CH 3 ;X 2 A') intermediate by atomic hydrogen elimi-nation leading to singlet methylgermylene (HGeCH 3 ;X 1 A'). Our inves-ti-gation provides an extra-ordi-nary glimpse at the largely unknown reaction dynamics and isomerization processes of the carbon-germa-ni-um system, which are quite distinct from those of the isovalent carbon system thus providing insights in-to an exotic chemistry and intriguing chemical bonding of organo germanium species on the most funda-mental, microscopic level.