The Functionalization and Reactivity of Germanium Clusters

Over the past century, Zintl ions have been studied in an effort to improve their synthesis and understand the differences in geometry and electronic structure. In the past ten years, research has begun to explore the functionalization and reactivity of the Ge9 cluster. The work herein furthers the understanding of Ge9 clusters, as well as provides new insights into the functionalization that the cluster undergoes. This work contains three sections: (i) functionalization of the Ge9 monomer cluster by various organic functional groups, (ii) potential synthesis of a tri-substituted cluster, and (iii) synthesis of cluster oligomers and studies of their functionalization and reactivity by mass spectrometry.