A Highly Enantiomerically Enriched Lithiosilane by Selective Cleavage of a Silicon–Phenyl Bond with Lithium

Stereospecific synthesis of silicon-stereogenic optically active silylboranes and general synthesis of chiral silyl Anions

Silicon-stereogenic optically active silylboranes could potentially allow the formation of chiral silyl nucleophiles as well as the synthesis of various chiral silicon compounds. However, the synthesis of such silicon-stereogenic silylboranes has not been achieved so far. Here, we report the synthesis of silicon-stereogenic optically active silylboranes via a stereospecific Pt(PPh3)4-catalyzed Si-H borylation of chiral hydrosilanes, which are synthesized by stoichiometric and catalytic asymmetric synthesis, in high yield and very high or perfect enantiospecificity (99% es in one case, and >99% es in the others) with retention of the configuration. Furthermore, we report a practical approach to generate silicon-stereogenic silyl nucleophiles with high enantiopurity and configurational stability using MeLi activation. This protocol is suitable for the stereospecific and general synthesis of silicon-stereogenic trialkyl-, dialkylbenzyl-, dialkylaryl-, diarylalkyl-, and alkylary benzyloxy-substituted silylboranes and their corresponding silyl nucleophiles with excellent enantiospecificity (>99% es except one case of 99% es). Transition-metal-catalyzed C-Si bond-forming cross-coupling reactions and conjugate-addition reactions are also demonstrated. The mechanisms underlying the stability and reactivity of such chiral silyl anion were investigated by combining NMR spectroscopy and DFT calculations.

An Additive-Free, Base-Catalyzed Protodesilylation of Organosilanes

We report an additive-free, base-catalyzed C-, N-, O-, and S-Si bond cleavage of various organosilanes in mild conditions. The novel catalyst system exhibits high efficiency and good functional group compatibility, providing the corresponding products in good to excellent yields with low catalyst loadings. Overall, this transition-metal-free process may offer a convenient and general alternative to current employing excess bases, strong acids, or metal-catalyzed systems for the protodesilylation of organosilanes.

Enantioselective Synthesis of Silacyclopentanes

A variety of functionalized silacyclopentanes were synthesized by highly enantioselective β-eliminations of silacyclopentene oxides followed by stereospecific transformations. The reaction mechanism of the β-elimination was elucidated by DFT calculations. An in vitro biological assay with an oxy-functionalized silacyclopentane showed substantial binding to a serotonin receptor protein.

From an α-functionalized silicon-stereogenic N,O-silane to a monomeric and tetracoordinate tBuLi adduct with lithium-centered chirality

Donor-functionalized silanes with stereogenic silicon centers are extremely rare. A convenient stereocontrolled route to a nitrogen-oxygen-functionalized silicon-chiral compound with an additional aminomethyl function is presented. This silane was directly achieved in stereochemically pure form by a simple nucleophilic substitution reaction. Owing to the unique asymmetry of this silane and the presence of three donor functions, the first monomeric butyllithium compound with lithium-centered chirality could be isolated; the configuration was assigned by X-ray crystallography. This [silane⋅ tBuLi] complex undergoes an unexpected deprotonation/stereospecific substitution sequence in toluene, leading to the development of a convenient one-pot synthesis of a functionalized silicon-chiral benzylsilane, which proceeds with inversion of configuration and complete preservation of the stereochemical integrity at silicon.

The competition between Si-Si and Si-C cleavage in functionalised oligosilanes: their reactivity with elemental lithium

The reaction of aryl-substituted disilanes with elemental lithium is a common method for the preparation of lithiosilanes and the subsequent synthesis of functionalised oligosilanes, especially of enantiomerically pure compounds. A series of alkyl- and arylsubstituted di- and trisilanes has been investigated with respect to their reactivity against elemental lithium. Thereby, depending on the substituents, silicon-silicon bond cleavage of the central Si-Si unit and/or silicon-carbon bond cleavage to arenes are observed. Quantum chemical studies provide a deeper insight into the ongoing processes. The reactive centre can be estimated by both, bond elongation after electron transfer and frontier orbital interactions (pi-bonding and sigma-antibonding part). Aromatic substituents at the silicon atoms proved to be necessary for the processing of any cleavage reaction in the studied systems by stabilising the radical anion after electron transfer at the corresponding di- or trisilane. Yet, selective cleavage reactions do not depend on the number of arenes.

(S)-1,2-Dimethyl-1,1,2-triphenyl-2-(4-piperidiniometh-yl)disilane chloride

The title compound, C(26)H(34)NSi(2) (+)·Cl(-), shows chirality at silicon. Because of its highly selective synthesis with an e.r. of >99:1 by means of a racemic resolution with mandelic acid, the free disilane is of great importance to the chemistry of highly enanti-omerically enriched lithio-silanes and their trapping products. N-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonding is present between the protonated nitro-gen atom of the piperidino group and the chloride counter-anion. The silicon-silicon distance as well as silicon-carbon and carbon-nitro-gen bond lengths are in the same ranges as in other quaternary, functionalized di- and tetra-silanes.