Hypervalent Silicon Based Catalysts

Non-catalyzed aldol reactions via hypervalent silicon species have also been studied. An aldol reaction between aldehydes and silyl enol ethers of amides was reported by Myers [105]. The reaction can be conducted under mild conditions to produce anti aldol without Lewis acid or base catalysts (Sch. 62). Asymmetric induction was particularly high when the (Z)-silyl ketene A/,0-acetal derived from prolinol was used. 

The first step of the overall reaction is the attack of the Lewis base catalyst at the silicon atom forming a hypervalent silicon atom and stretching the Si-Cl bond. In a second step this species reacts with the stannane to give the hydrogenated silane and trialkylchlorostannane ... 

Abstract The term Lewis acid catalysts generally refers to metal salts like aluminium chloride, titanium chloride and zinc chloride. Their application in asymmetric catalysis can be achieved by the addition of enantiopure ligands to these salts. However, not only metal centers can function as Lewis acids. Compounds containing carbenium, silyl or phosphonium cations display Lewis acid catalytic activity. In addition, hypervalent compounds based on phosphorus and silicon, inherit Lewis acidity. Furthermore, ionic liquids, organic salts with a melting point below 100 °C, have revealed the ability to catalyze a range of reactions either in substoichiometric amount or, if used as the reaction medium, in stoichiometric or even larger quantities. The ionic liquids can often be efficiently recovered. The catalytic activity of the ionic liquid is explained by the Lewis acidic nature of then-cations. This review covers the survey of known classes of metal-free Lewis acids and their application in catalysis. 

One section in this review will deal with silyl cations, another with hypervalent silicon compounds. The concept of hypervalent sihcon compounds belongs, strictly speaking, to the class of Lewis base catalysis. However, since a Lewis base forms in situ with a silicon containing reagent or SiCl an intermediate, which functions as a Lewis acid to activate substrates during the reaction, we would also present a few examples in this review. Since silicon is a semimetal we leave it up to the reader to decide whether silicon catalysts should be considered as organocatalysts. 

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