Understanding the Diverse Reactivity of Pentaphenylborole toward Epoxides

Mechanistic Insights into Activation of Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, and Nitrous Oxide by Acyclic Silylene

Owing to an empty p orbital and a lone pair of electrons on the Si center, silylene exhibits reactivity similar to a transition-metal system capable of activating H₂/C-H bonds and small molecules. In this work, with the aid of density functional theory calculations, we systematically investigated the reactions of an acyclic silylene with CO, CO₂, and N₂O. The detailed mechanisms obtained lead to an in-depth understanding of the silylene single-site ambiphilic reactivity.