1.2- Disiladioxetanes, disilene oxidation

C. Disiladioxetanes Oxidation of Disilenes with Molecular Oxygen. 819... 

Disilenes have much lower oxidation potentials than olefins , and consequently they are much more reactive toward 02. Typically, disilenes 93 react in solution with triplet oxygen to give 1,2-disiladioxetanes 94 as the major product, accompanied at room temperature by a smaller amount of disilaoxirane 95 (equation 93) °. ... 

At lower temperature in solution, the aerial oxidation of disilenes initially furnishes the 3,4-disiladioxetanes 119 together with small amounts of the disilaoxiranes 120, both of which react further in the solid state and in solution to give the cyclodisiloxanes 121 (Scheme 4). 

Oxidation of the disilene 13 follows a somewhat different course although a 3, 4-disiladioxetane is formed in a first step, the subsequent products are the cyclodisiloxane... 

The reaction of stable disilenes with oxygen in solution is much faster. It eventually yields the same 1,3-cyclodisiloxane, but it clearly is not the initial product. Two intermediates have been isolated, a 1,2-disiladioxetane and a disiloxirane. At least one more is probably present. In spite of this progress, the mechanism of the oxidation reaction has not yet been elucidated918,92. 

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