Silaethene

Quest for a Symmetric [C-F-C]+ Fluoronium Ion in Solution: A Winding Path to Ultimate Success

In this Account, we chronicle our tortuous but ultimately fruitful quest to synthesize a [C-F-C]⁺ fluoronium ion in solution, thus providing the last piece of the organic halonium ion puzzle. Inspiration for the project can be traced all the way back to the graduate career of the corresponding author, wherein the analogy between a [C-H-C]+ "hydrido" bridge and a hypothetical [C-F-C]⁺ bridge was first noted. The earliest attempt to construct a bicyclo[5.3.3]tridecane-based fluoronium ion (based on the analogous hydrido bridged cation) proved to be synthetically difficult. A subsequent attempt involving a 1,8-substituted naphthalene ring was theoretically naïve in retrospect, and it resulted in a classical benzylic carbocation instead. A biphenyl-based substrate, although computationally sound, proved to be kinetically untenable. At last, after some tweaking (including a dead-end detour into a fluoraadamantane skeleton), we finally achieved success with a highly rigid, semicage precursor based on the decahydro-1,4:5,8-dimethanonaphthalene system. This strained substrate possessed a triflate leaving group to enhance its solvolytic reactivity. Detailed isotopic labeling and kinetic studies supported the generation of a symmetrical [C-F-C]+ bridge; interesting solution behavior allowed the manipulation of the rate-determining step for solvolysis depending on solvent nucleophilicity. After initial generation as a transient intermediate, the fluoronium ion was later produced as a stable species in solution and was fully characterized by ¹⁹F, ¹H, and ¹³C NMR, with the resultant species displaying evident C_ssymmetry through coordination of a molecule of SbF₅. This remarkable ion proved stable to -30 °C. We also address a disagreement surrounding the nomenclature of fluoronium ions in particular and its potential impact upon the naming of onium ions in general. We strove to highlight the dangers of confusing the arbitrary concept of calculated partial charge with IUPAC nomenclature. Finally, we discuss future directions, for example, the synthesis of a fluoronium ion in which fluorine resides within an aromatic ring.

Rhodium-Catalyzed Reaction of Silacyclobutanes with Unactivated Alkynes to Afford Silacyclohexenes

A Rh-catalyzed reaction of silacyclobutanes (SCBs) with unactivated alkynes has been developed to form silacyclohexenes with high chemoselectivity. Good enantioselectivity at the stereogenic silicon center was achieved using a chiral phosphoramidite ligand. The resulting silacyclohexenes are useful scaffolds for synthesizing structurally attractive silacyclic compounds.

Tridentate Lewis acids with phenyl substituted 1,3,5-trisilacyclohexane backbones

A new 1,3,5-trisilacyclohexane scaffold with axially orientated ethynyl groups provides opportunities to create new tridentate Lewis acids. Some examples of these Lewis acids have been synthesized.

Evidence for a Symmetrical Fluoronium Ion in Solution

Halonium ions, in which formally positively charged halogens (chlorine, bromine, and iodine) are equivalently attached to two carbon atoms through three-center bonds, are well established in the synthetic chemistry of organochlorides, bromides, and iodides. Mechanistic studies of these ions have generated numerous insights into the origins of stereoselectivity in addition and displacement reactions. However, it has not been clear whether fluorine can form a halonium ion in the same manner. We present chemical and theoretical evidence for the transient generation of a true symmetrical fluoronium ion in solution from an appropriately configured precursor.

Siletanylmethyllithium: an ambiphilic organosilane

The adjacent centres of electrophilicity and nucleophilicity lead to interesting chemical reactivity in the title reagent.

Silaheterocycles 36 (1). Trichlorovinylsilane, lithium-tert-butyl, and 1,3-enynes: A versatile combination for the competitive formation of silacyclobutanes and silacyclobutenes

Equimolar amounts of trichlorovinylsilane (9), lithium-tert-butyl, and 1,3-enynes were reacted to yield the corresponding isomeric silacyclobutanes and silacyclobutenes competitively. As reaction pathway the mixture 9/tBuLi is discussed to give a silene equivalent, Cl2Si=CHCH2tBu (10), yielding the four-membered ring silacycles by formal [2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions of 10 with the C=C double or the C=C triple bond of the 1,3-enyne. The relative ratio of the products formed depends on the polarity of the multiple bonds in the enyne, which is mainly determined by the substituent pattern. Thus, from the organosubstituted 1,3-enynes R1 C=C-C(R2)=CR3R4 (R1 = Me, Et, SiMe3, Ph; R2 = H, Me, Ph; R3=Me, OMe, Ph; R4=H; and R1C=C-R' (R' = 1-cyclohexenyl, cyclohexanevinylidyne)) and 9/tBuLi the silacyclobutanes 12, 13, and 15 and the silacyclobutenes 14,16-24, and 27 (from 10 and 3-hexyne) are prepared in a one-step synthesis and isolated from the reaction mixtures. The silacyclobutanes and -butenes are thermally stable and can be distilled under vacuo up to temperatures of about 150°C without decomposition. The experimental results are confirmed qualitatively by semiempiric calculations at the AM-1 level and their analysis using FMO theory. The solid state structure of the silacyclobutene 19 (C17H30Cl2Si2) has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffractometry. 19 is orthorhombic, space group P212121, a = 1030.94(2) pm, b = 1244.6(2) pm, c = 1605.5(3) pm, Z = 4.Key words: neopentylsilene, dichloroneopentylsilene, silacyclobutenes, silacyclobutanes, 1,3-enynes.