Syntheses and X-ray crystal structures of monomeric zinc and mercury bis(silylamides)

Lithium amides Li[N(SiMe3)(R)] (R = -SiPh2tBu and adamantyl) have been treated with anhydrous ZnCl2 and HgBr2 to yield the corresponding homoleptic metal silylamides. All complexes are fully characterized and are monomeric as determined by single crystal X-ray crystallography. The adamantyl-containing compounds differ significantly in their solid-state structures. Reactivities of these new compounds with CO2 are also presented.