Tris(tri‐ tert ‐butylsilyl)digallanyl ( t Bu 3 Si) 3 Ga 2 : A New Type of Compound for a Heavy Group 13 Element

Blue‐black trisupersilyldigallanyl , a new metastable inorganic radical, forms in the reaction of GaCl 3 with t Bu 3 SiNa in pentane at room temperature according to Equation (a). The X‐ray structure analysis reveals that it contains a planar Si 2 Ga II Ga I and a nearly linear Ga II Ga I Si framework; according to the ESR spectrum the unpaired electron resides in both Ga atoms. Surprisingly, the analogous reaction of AlCl 3 and t Bu 3 SiNa (Al instead of Ga in Equation (a)) does not lead to trisupersilyldialanyl, but to red tetrasupersilyldialane ( t Bu 3 Si) 2 Al–Al(Si t Bu 3 ) 2 .