As part of a program aimed at developing synthetic methods based on divalent germanium and divalent tin,'we had the opportunity to examine the chemistry of triphenylphosphonium salts 1. Phosphonium salt la, a precursor to dichloro-or bisamidogermylenes, can be obtained in nearly quantitative yield by the addition of tributyltin hydride2 to an ethereal solution of germanium tetrachloride and triphenylphosphine (eq l). 3 Tin and
