Group 14

  Organotin compounds are employed as polyvinylchloride (PVC) stabilizers (against degradation by light and heat), antifouling paints on ships, wood preservatives and agricultural pesticides. Leaded motor fuels contain the anti-knock agent Et₄Pb, although this use has declined on environmental grounds. Several general properties of the organo-derivatives of the group 14 elements, E, are as follows:

• in most compounds, the group 14 element is tetravalent;
• the E^_C bonds are generally of low polarity;
• their stability towards all reagents decreases from Si to Pb;

 in contrast to the group 13 organometallics, derivatives of the group 14 elements are less susceptible to nucleophilic attack