Close contacts involving germanium and tin in crystal structures: experimental evidence of tetrel bonds

Modeling indicates the presence of a region of low electronic density (a “σ-hole”) on group 14 elements, and this offers an explanation for the ability of these elements to act as electrophilic sites and to form attractive interactions with nucleophiles. While many papers have described theoretical investigations of interactions involving carbon and silicon, such investigations of the heavier group 14 elements are relatively scarce. The purpose of this review is to rectify, to some extent, the current lack of experimental data on interactions formed by germanium and tin with nucleophiles. A survey of crystal structures in the Cambridge Structural Database is reported. This survey reveals that close contacts between Ge or Sn and lone-pair-possessing atoms are quite common, they can be either intra- or intermolecular contacts, and they are usually oriented along the extension of the covalent bond formed by the tetrel with the most electron-withdrawing substituent. Several examples are discussed in which germanium and tin atoms bear four carbon residues or in which halogen, oxygen, sulfur, or nitrogen substituents replace one, two, or three of those carbon residues. These close contacts are assumed to be the result of attractive interactions between the involved atoms and afford experimental evidence of the ability of germanium and tin to act as electrophilic sites, namely tetrel bond (TB) donors. This ability can govern the conformations and the packing of organic derivatives in the solid state. TBs can therefore be considered a promising and robust tool for crystal engineering.