Hexalkylditin is prepared by a Lewis acid-promoted (MgCl2) reductive reaction of bis(trialkyltin) oxide using magnesium metal as reducing agent. Hexabutyl- and hexaphenylditin are synthesized with 95% and 80% yield separately and a radical mechanism is proposed for the reaction condition. Unsymmetric ditin, Bu3Sn-SnPh3, was first synthesized by this reductive method.
