Reactions of the Hexafluorothioacetone Dimer with Cyanides of Phosphorus, Arsenic and Germanium

Cyanides such as P(CN) 3 , As(CN) 3 , PhP(CN) 2 , Bu t As(CN) 2 and Ge(CN) 4 react with [(CF 3 ) 2 CS] 2 (1) by insertion of the carbon atom of the iso-nitrile isomer into the four-membered [CS] 2 ring to give compounds PR′ 3 (2), AsR′ 3 (3), FP(S)R′ 2 (4), PhP(S)R′2 (5), Bu t AsR′ 2 (6) and GeR′ 4 (7) respectively, where R′ is the novel heterocyclic ligand[xxx]. The crystal structures of 3 and 7 are reported.