A new approach to the first complex featuring a manganese tin triple bond that takes advantage of the propensity of dihydrogen complexes to eliminate H-2 is reported. Reaction of the 18-valence-electron manganese dihydrogen hydride complex [MnH-(eta(2)-H-2)(dmpe)(2)] (1) (dmpe = Me2PCH2CH2PMe2) with the organotin(II) chloride SnCl(C6H3-2,6-Mes(2)) (Mes = 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl) selectively afforded by H-2 elimination the chlorostannylidene complex trans-[H-(dmpe)(2)Mn = Sn(Cl)(C6H3-2,6-Mes(2))] (2), which upon treatment with Na[B(C6H3-3,5-(CF3)(2))(4)] and Li[Al(OC-(CF3)(3))(4)] was transformed quantitatively into the stannylidyne complex salts trans-[H(dmpe)(2)Mn Sn-(C6H3-2,6-Mes(2))]A [A = B(C6H3-3,5-(CF3)(2))(4) (3a), Al(OC(CF3)(3))(4) (3b)]. Complexes 2 and 3a/3b were fully characterized, and the structures of 2 and 3a were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 2 features the shortest Mn-Sn double bond reported to date, a large Mn-Sn-C-aryl bond angle, and a long Sn-Cl bond of the trigonal-planar-coordinated tin center. These bonding features can be rationalized in valence-bond terms by a strong contribution of the triply bonded resonance structure [LnM SnR]Cl and were verified by a natural resonance theory (NRT) analysis of the electron density of the DFT-minimized structure of 2. Complex 3a features the shortest Mn-Sn bond reported to date and a linearly coordinated tin atom. Natural bond order and NRT analyses of the electronic structure of the complex cation in 3a/3b suggested a highly polar Mn-Sn triple bond with a 65% ionic contribution to the NRT Mn-Sn bond order of 2.25. Complex 3a undergoes reversible one-electron reduction, suggesting that open-shell stannylidyne complexes might be accessible using strong reducing agents.