Synthesis, crystal and molecular structures of the novel, structurally different, cage compounds P6C4Bu(t)4SiI2 and P6C4Bu(t)4GeI2, resulting from intra-molecular coupling of two 1,2,4-triphospholyl rings

Treatment of EI4 (E = Si or Ge) with 2 equivalents of K[P3C2Bu(t)2] affords the novel cage compounds P6C4Bu(t)4SiI2 and P6C4Bu(t)4GeI2 respectively, whose molecular structures, determined spectroscopically and by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies, are different both in solution and in the solid state.