Equilibrium between a cyclotrisilene and an isolable base adduct of a disilenyl silylene

Nat Chem. 2013 Oct;5(10):876-9. doi: 10.1038/nchem.1751. Epub 2013 Sep 15.

Abstract

In organic chemistry, compounds with adjacent alkene and carbene functionalities (vinyl carbenes) are studied widely as fleeting intermediates and in the coordination sphere of transition metals. Stable derivatives of vinyl carbenes remain elusive, including the corresponding heavier group 14 homologues. Here we report the isolation and full characterization of a base-stabilized silicon version of a vinyl carbene that features a silicon-silicon double bond as well as a silylene functionality, coordinated by an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC). In solution, the intensely green disilenyl silylene adduct exists in equilibrium with the corresponding silicon analogue of a cyclopropene and free NHC, which was quantified by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The reversibility of this process raises exciting possibilities for the preparation of extended conjugated π systems of silicon.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Molecular Structure
  • Organosilicon Compounds / chemistry*
  • Silicon / chemistry*
  • Vinyl Compounds / chemistry*

Substances

  • Organosilicon Compounds
  • Vinyl Compounds
  • cyclotrisilene
  • disilenyl silylene
  • Silicon

Associated data

  • PubChem-Substance/163826972
  • PubChem-Substance/163826973
  • PubChem-Substance/163826974
  • PubChem-Substance/163826975