Synthesis, Isolation, and Reactivity Studies of 'Naked' Acyclic Gallyl and Indyl Anions.

By exploiting the electronic capabilities of the N-heterocyclic boryloxy (NHBO) ligand, we have synthesized "naked" acyclic gallyl [Ga{OB(NDippCH)}] and indyl [In{OB(NDippCH)}] anions (as their [K(2.2.2-crypt)] salts) through K abstraction from [KGa{OB(NDippCH)}] and [KIn{OB(NDippCH)}] using 2.2.2-crypt. These systems represent the first O-ligated gallyl/indyl systems, are ultimately accessed from cyclopentadienyl Ga/In precursors by substitution chemistry, and display nucleophilic reactivity which is strongly influenced by the presence (or otherwise) of the K counterion.