Silylene with silanes

J.M. Jasinski and J.O. Chu. Absolute Rate Constants for the Reaction of Silylene with Hydrogen, Silane, and Disilane. J. Chem. Phys., 88(3) 1678-1687,1988. 

The reactions of bare Fe" " ions and related species in the gas phase continue to attract much interest. The remote functionalisation of 1,6-hexanediol by Fe occurs by C-H activation at C(3) and C(4).26 Functionalisation of 3-methyl-2-pentanone at C(4) is diastereoselective, probably because of the conformation of a chair-like intermediate. Reactions of Fe with anisoles and phenols have also been studied.28 Interaction of Fe with silanes gives both silene and silylene species, though the two are not interconvertible. The reactions of Fe(alkene)+ complexes with pentane were found to differ dramatically from those of bare Fe" , and C-H and C-C activation were also observed in reactions of Fe(C2H4) with oxygen. 0,31 interaction of Fe(benzyne)+ with alkyl halides led to C-X or C-C addition followed by p-elimination and loss of HX.32 The gas phase reaction of Fe(NH2)Me" with C2H4 is best explained by insertion into the Fe-C bond followed by P-elimination and loss of propene. The reaction of FeMe with 1-octyne also leads to C-C bond forming processes. 

Kiel SR, Tilley TD, Bergman RG (2002) Reactions of Cp(PMe3)Ir(Me)OTf with silanes role of base-free silylene complexes in rearrangements of the resulting silicon-based ligands. Organometallics 21 3376... 

With the stable donor adducts of silylene complexes, valuable model compounds are now available for reactive intermediates which otherwise cannot be observed directly. For example, a side reaction occurring in the hydrosilation process [61 -63], is the dehydrogenative coupling of silanes to disilanes. This reaction could be explained in terms of a silylene transfer reaction with a coordinated silylene as the key intermediate. 

Investigations of silicon-metal systems are of fundamental interest, since stable coordination compounds with low valent silicon are still rare [64], and furthermore, silicon transition-metal complexes have a high potential for technical applications. For instance, coordination compounds of Ti, Zr, and Hf are effective catalysts for the polymerization of silanes to oligomeric chain-silanes. The mechanism of this polymerization reaction has not yet been fully elucidated, but silylene complexes as intermediates have been the subject of discussion. Polysilanes find wide use in important applications, e.g., as preceramics [65-67] or as photoresists [68-83],... 

Recent investigations have been concerned with the reactivities observed with secondary silanes R2SiH2. In these cases, a dehydrogenative coupling of silanes to disilanes is observed as a side reaction of the hydrosilation. However, the hydrosilation can be totally suppressed if the olefins are omitted. The key intermediate in the coupling reaction has been identified as a silylene complex (sect. 2.5.4). 

The polymerization reaction of silanes with Cp2ZrMe2 as catalyst has also been investigated by several research groups. Some evidence for a reaction mechanism proceeding through silylene complexes as intermediates has been given... 

Barton and co-workers" performed flash vacuum pyrolysis (FVP) on trimethyl-silylvinylmethylchlorosilane (30), resulting in the production of trimethylchlorosi-lane (30%), trimethylvinylsilane (11.5%), and most interestingly, ethynylmethyl-silane (34, 11.9%). A proposed mechanism for the synthesis of 34 (Scheme 10) begins with the lo.ss of trimethylchlorosilane to form silylene 31, which can rearrange either to silaallene 32 or to silirene 33, both of which can lead to the isolated ethynylsilane. 

Using CO-saturated hydrocarbon matrices, Pearsall and West" photolyzed sily-lene precursors at 77 K and monitored CO coordination to the silylenes by UV-vis spectroscopy (Scheme 13). Bis(trimethylsilyl)silanes 44a-c or SifiMcji were irradiated at 254 nm to create silylenes 45a-d, which reacted with CO, causing new peaks to ca. 290 and 350 nm, which were attributed to complex 46a-d, a resonance structure of silaketene 47a-d. Silylene adducts form fairly weak bonds, as seen by warming of the matrices. In the case of silylene adducts where one R = Mes, the CO dissociates and the corresponding disilene 48a-c peaks in the UV-vis spectra observed upon warming (R2 = Me most likely produced silane rings Si, Me6. etc.). 

Dissociation of the gases SiH4 and H2 by electron impact will create reactive species (radicals) and/or neutrals (Si2H6 and even higher-order silanes [195-198]). Atomic hydrogen is an important particle because it is formed in nearly all electron impact collisions, and the H-abstraction reaction [199, 200] of (di)silane is an important process, as is seen from sensitivity study. Dissociation of SiHa can create different SiH (with x = 0, 1,2, 3) radicals. Only silylene (SiH2) and... 

The correlation of deposition rate with disilane concentration and the zero-barrier of the reaction of silane with silylene to disilane lead to the conclusion that the latter reaction is the dominant subsequent pathway following the silane fragmentation. Disilane shows two characteristic relaxation times, the slower being identical with the relaxation time of silane. In conclusion, the formation of... 

The experimental results presented do not interfer with the mechanism of PICVD of silicon via the silylene route. However, the results of the measurements of the silane relaxation time as a function of the silane concentration in the discharge and the comparison of disilane and silylene relaxation times do contradict to the SiH3-route. The latter mechanism has to be abandoned. 

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