Reactions of the silyl radical

FLASH PHOTOLYSIS WITH TIME-RESOLVED MASS SPECTROMETRY 

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When a thin film prepared from poly[(tetraethyldisilanylene)bis(2,5-thienylene)] was irradiated in air with a 6-W low pressure mercury lamp bearing a Vycor filter, the absorption maximum near 340 nm disappeared within 40 min. Poly[(tetraethyldisilanylene)(2,5-thienylene)] also exhibited a rapid UV change when its thin film was irradiated. IR spectra of the resulting films reveal strong absorption bands due to Si-O-H and Si-O-Si bonds at 3300 and 1100 cm [. The formation of the Si-O-H and Si-O-Si bonds can be best explained by the reaction of the silyl radicals generated by homolytic scission of the silicon-silicon bonds in the polymer backbone with oxygen in air. The other polymers are also photoactive,... 

It is possible to investigate some more reactions, more likely to lead to HSiN [99]. They involve either the reactions of the silyl radical SiHa onto N" or the formation of a complex between N and the silyl cation SiH. We should mention that neither SiHa (a C-io species whose electronic dipole moment is computed to be 0.17 D at the MP2 level of calculation) nor SiH (a Vn, species having a vanishing electronic dipole moment for symmetry reasons) have been observed in the interstellar medium, while SiH4 is perfectly identified. 

It is worth mentioning that in a few cases the (3-elimination of the silyl radical from the a-silyl alkoxyl radical (47) with the formation of corresponding carbonyl derivative was observed [63,64]. Evidently the fate of a-silyl alkoxyl radical depends on the method of radical generation and/or the nature of the substrate. Two examples that delineate the potentialities of this rearrangements are reported in Reactions (5.33) and (5.34). In the former, the 5-exo cyclization of secondary alkyl radical on the carbonyl moiety followed by the radical Brook rearrangement afforded the cyclopentyl silyl ether [65], whereas Reaction (5.34) shows the treatment of an a-silyl alcohol with lead tetracetate to afford the mixed acetyl silyl acetal under mild conditions [63]. 

Photolysis of polysilanes produces silyl radicals, which can be used to induce free-radical reactions. Because the silyl radicals can add to carbon-carbon double bonds and begin the formation of polymer chains, polysilanes can be used as radical photoinitiators. In early studies, (PhSiMe) and its copolymers (PhQIUSiMe), and (cyclo-HexSiMe) were shown to photoinitiate the polymerization of styrene and several acrylate... 

A simple example involves the reaction of the silyl ether 213, made from the corresponding 4-hydroxy-alkene by treatment with (bromomethyl)chloro-dimethylsilane, with tributyltin hydride and a radical initiator. Bromine abstraction and intramolecular cyclization with the double bond leads to the bicyclic 214, which upon oxidation with hydrogen peroxide gives the branched-chain 215 in an overall yield of 73% from the alcohol precursor of 213 (Scheme 21). When the sequence is conducted with the C-4 epimeric starting alcohol, the final product again has the hydroxymethyl group cis-related to the hydroxy group.217... 

Several reports of the reactions of either silyl radicals with C6o (buckminsterfullerene), or of C6o-substituted systems to generate silyl radicals have recently appeared in the literature36-39. 

Addition of the silyl radical to carbon-carbon double bonds is an elementary reaction of radical hydrosilation (Scheme 1). Homolytic aromatic silationalso occurs involving silyl radicals. Silyl radicals are nucleophilic owing to the high SOMO energy, as evidenced by the directive effects in the hemolytic aromatic substitution. The intermediate cyclohexadienyl radicals have been observed by ESR. 

Addition of the silyl radicals to carbonyl compounds occurs at the oxygen site (equations 75 and 76). The latter reaction is utihzed also for spin trapping of silyl radicals (equation 76). 

Reactions of free silyl radicals in the liquid phase (Japan)... 

Evidence for the reaction of the OH radical to form water is the formation of a small quantity of water observed during the oxidation of SiH4 (c.f., Eq. 5.2). Silyl radicals are oxidized by N2O to form siloxy radicals, (Eq. 5.7), which provide a suitable propagation step (Eq. 5.8). It has been proposed that the silanol (SiHjOH) is the penultimate film precursor via diffusion to the film surface and further oxidation. 

Developments in the synthesis and characterization of stable silylenes (RiSi ) open a new route for the generation of silyl radicals. For example, dialkylsilylene 2 is monomeric and stable at 0 °C, whereas N-heterocyclic silylene 3 is stable at room temperature under anaerobic conditions. The reactions of silylene 3 with a variety of free radicals have been studied by product characterization, EPR spectroscopy, and DFT calculations (Reaction 3). EPR studies have shown the formation of several radical adducts 4, which represent a new type of neutral silyl radicals stabilized by delocalization. The products obtained by addition of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-l-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) to silylenes 2 and 3 has been studied in some detail. ... 

The carbon-centered radical R, resulting from the initial atom (or group) removal by a silyl radical or by addition of a silyl radical to an unsaturated bond, can be designed to undergo a number of consecutive reactions prior to H-atom transfer. The key step in these consecutive reactions generally involves the intra-or inter-molecular addition of R to a multiple-bonded carbon acceptor. As an example, the propagation steps for the reductive alkylation of alkenes by (TMSfsSiH are shown in Scheme 6. 

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