Disilenes, reactions with water

Disilenes readily add halogens14,66 and active hydrogen compounds (HX), such as hydrogen halides,63,66 alcohols, and water,27 63 as well as hydride reagents, such as tin hydride and lithium aluminum hydride.66 These reactions are summarized in Scheme 9. The reaction of the stereo-isomeric disilene (E)-3 with hydrogen chloride and alcohols led to a mixture of E- and Z-isomers, but the reaction with chlorine gave only one of the two possible stereoisomers, thus indicating that the former two reactions proceed stepwise while the latter occurs without Si—Si rotation. 

The [2+2] cycloaddition of the Si=Si double bond of disilenes across a hetero double bond belongs to the most typical reactions for the preparation of disiletanes. Reaction of the supersilyl stabilized disilene 90 with PhHC=0 and Ph2C=S gave oxa- and thiadisiletanes 91 and 92, respectively (Scheme 15). The use of heterocumulenes 0=C=0 and 0=C=S in a similar cycloaddition reaction yielded oxa- and thiadisiletanes 44 and 31. The isolated disiletanes are colorless and oxygen, water, and thermostable compounds <2002CEJ2730>. 

In view of the preference of the tetrasilabuta-1,3-diene 139 for the s-cis form, it seemed worthwhile to examine its behavior in [4 + 2] cycloadditions of the Diels-Alder type. Since 139, like many disilenes, should behave as an electron-rich diene, we attempted to react it with various electron-poor and also with some electron-rich olefins. No reaction was detected in any case. Only in the presence of water did 139 react with quinones to furnish the unsymmetrically substituted disilenes 36 and 37 (see Section III.A). The effective shielding of the double bonds by the bulky aryl groups and, above all, the 1, 4-separation of the terminal silicon atoms of about 5.40 A appear to be responsible for these failures. Thus, it was surprising that treatment of 139 with the heavier chalcogens afforded five-membered ring compounds in a formal [4 + 1] cycloaddition (see below). 

The X-ray structure analyses of the unsymmetrically substituted disilenes 22 and 23 revealed the presence of somewhat stretched Si=Si and Si-Si bonds. It is not clear as to why no 1,2-additions of the hydrogen halides to the double bonds of 6 occur in these reactions or why instead the previously unobserved 1,4-additions with formation of new double bonds take place. The closest precedent involves the action of small amounts of water on 6, which is presumably initiated by a 1,2-addition and subsequent 1,3-hydrogen shift to form compound 17. 

The reaction mechanism and the stereochemical diversity of the addition of water to disilene has been studied at the MP2/6-311-h+G level. Two pathways are feasible leading to syn and anti-addition. The syn addition proceeds via nucleophilic attack by water oxygen with a barrier of ca. 12 kJ mol k anti-Addition proceeds via intramolecular electrophilic attack by water hydrogen in a weakly bound disilene/water complex with antarafacial approach, in accordance with the Woodward-Hoffmann rules, and leads to an activation barrier of ca. 22 kJ mol ... 

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