Alkenes silicon mediated formation

Hwu et al. have examined the dependence of the metal oxidant on the mode of reactivity in silicon-controlled allylation of 1,3-dioxo compounds [95JOC856]. The use of manganese(III) acetate furnished the dihydrofuran product 22 only. On the other hand, use of cerium(IV) nitrate resulted in the formation of both acyclic (23) as well as the cyclized compound, with the product distribution dependent on the nature of the allylsilane. Facile synthesis of dihydrofurans by the cerium(IV) mediated oxidative addition of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds to cyclic and acyclic alkenes has also been reported [95JCS(P1)187]. 

An alternate route to formation of alkyl monolayers is via Lewis acid catalyzed reactions of alkenes with the hydrogen terminated surface. In this approach, a catalyst such as ethyl aluminum dichloride is used to mediate the hydrosilylation reaction of an alkene (or alkyne), resulting in the same type of product as in the case of the photochemical or thermal reactions. This type of reaction is well known based on molecular organosilane chemistry and has also been used successfully to alkylate porous silicon [31]. Although this route has been shown to work on H/Si(lll), the resulting monolayers are found to have lower coverages than those achieved using the photochemical or thermal approach [29], Another concern with this approach is the possibility of trace metal residues from the catalyst that could adversely affect the electronic properties of these surfaces (even when present at levels below the detection limit of most common surface analysis techniques). 

---