The photolysis of dimesitylbis(trimethylsilyl)germane (3) in hexanes or THF, at low temperature, has been investigated as a potential method for the preparative-scale synthesis of tetramesityldigermene (5). A product mixture, consisting of hexamethyldisilane, mesitylene, 2-trimethylsilylmesitylene (7), a new germacyclobutene (8), and an unidentified polymer, was obtained. No evidence for the formation of tetramesityldigermene (5) was observed.Key words: diaryldisilylgermane, digermene, germylene, germacyclobutene, photolysis.