Singly bonded catenated germanes: Eighty years of progress

The results summarized in this review clearly indicate that there has been and continues to be substantial interest in the synthesis, structures, and properties of oligomeric and polymeric germanium catenates. The advent of new methods for the preparation of these materials that circumvent common difficulties, including low yields and the formation of product mixtures, is an important endeavor, and much work remains to be done in this regard. Discrete oligogermanes undergo a wide variety of interesting transformations, and recently developed methods for their synthesis should permit a detailed investigation of the relationship between their composition and their physical and chemical properties. The properties of these oligomeric and polymeric systems are tunable, since their physical attributes are dependent on the number of germanium atoms present in the molecule, as well as on the type of organic groups attached to the Ge-Ge backbone.It is expected that continued research in the area of germanium catenates will produce a significant amount of new compounds in pure form with potential applications in electronics, optics, and materials science. © 2008 American Chemical Society.