With silicon-sulfur bonds

SiOS121 and a sterically hindered silanethione122 no compounds with silicon-sulfur multiple bonds have been isolated1. 

This study was complemented by a selective synthesis of the tautomeric enethiols [77]. Aliphatic thioketones were deprotonated by LDA, silylated, and the resulting silyl vinyl sulfides were smoothly converted to enethiols by simple addition of methanol. These are stable compounds which do not equilibrate with thioketones, this behaviour probably related to the extremely mild conditions of the (easy) cleavage of the silicon-sulfur bond. 

The silicon-halogen, silicon-oxygen, and silicon-sulfur bonds of the haiogenosil-anes, siiyl ethers, and siiyi thioethers are cleaved by reaction with LAH, AIH3, or DIBAH, and the corresponding siiyl hydrides are obtained [CGI, CG2]. Ultrasound activation can be applied [LG2] (Figure 5.9), Anionic pentacoordinated silicon compounds are reduced to hydrogenosilanes by LAH or DIBAH [BC6]. 

The acid cleavage of the aryl— silicon bond (desilylation), which provides a measure of the reactivity of the aromatic carbon of the bond, has been applied to 2- and 3-thienyl trimethylsilane, It was found that the 2-isomer reacted only 43.5 times faster than the 3-isomer and 5000 times faster than the phenyl compound at 50,2°C in acetic acid containing aqueous sulfuric acid. The results so far are consistent with the relative reactivities of thiophene upon detritia-tion if a linear free-energy relationship between the substituent effect in detritiation and desilylation is assumed, as the p-methyl group activates about 240 (200-300) times in detritiation with aqueous sulfuric acid and about 18 times in desilylation. A direct experimental comparison of the difference between benzene and thiophene in detritiation has not been carried out, but it may be mentioned that even in 80.7% sulfuric acid, benzene is detritiated about 600 times slower than 2-tritiothiophene. The aforementioned consideration makes it probable that under similar conditions the ratio of the rates of detritiation of thiophene and benzene is larger than in the desilylation. A still larger difference in reactivity between the 2-position of thiophene and benzene has been found for acetoxymercuration which... 

Furthermore, it was found that I I2Si=S is thermodynamically stable compared with H2Si=0. In an attempt to assess the strength of a silicon-sulfur double bond, a comparison was made of the hydrogenation energies released upon addition of H2... 

Nitrogen and oxygen can be Incorporated Into the backbone such that they are surrounded by different atom types. For example, organic peroxides contain two covalently bonded oxygen atoms that form the peroxide linkage. These molecules are Inherently unstable. Two covalently bonded nitrogen atoms are also similarly unstable. These unstable structures decompose to form smaller unstable molecules that are used to start the polymerization for some types of monomers. Thus, to be incorporated implies that the molecules are found only singularly in the backbone chain. Sulfur and silicon are considered to be chain formers. They can be found in the backbone in multiple units connected covalently to molecules of the same type or with carbon. Complete molecules with a silicon backbone are possible, and molecules with multiple sulfur links incorporated into the system are common, particularly in sulfur-crosslinked rubber. 

The chemistry of silacyclopentanes resembles closely that of acyclic alkylsilanes. Strong bases are needed to cleave the silicon-carbon bond, while electrophilic attack occurs readily with halogens and strong acids, e.g. sulfuric. In addition, aluminum chloride will induce polymerization of silacyclopentanes unless one of the groups on silicon is carbofunctional (Scheme 154) (67MI12000). If this is chloromethyl, then ring expansion occurs (Scheme 155). 

In recent years, however, impressive progress has been made in the field of silicon- sulfur double-bond chemistry the first examples of kinetically stabilized and electronically stabilized silanethiones were successfully synthesized and fully characterized by spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic data9,10. These results together with the theoretical studies have revealed the intrinsic nature of this unique double bond to silicon. 

As mentioned in this chapter, in recent years much progress has been made in the chemistry of silicon-chalcogen multiple bonds. For silicon-sulfur doubly-bonded compounds, we have now several isolated examples, both kinetically stabilized and thermodynamically stabilized. Furthermore, there have been reports of the synthesis and characterization of stable compounds with silicon-nitrogen double bonds (i.e. silanimines or iminosilanes) as well as their heavier group 15 element analogues such as phosphasilenes and arsasilenes. 

You have now seen how enols and enolates react with electrophiles based on hydrogen (deuterium), carbon, halogens, silicon, sulfur, and nitrogen. What remains to be seen is how new carbon-carbon bonds can be formed with alkyl halides and carbonyl compounds in their normal electrophilic mode. These reactions are the subject of Chapters 26-29. We must first look at the ways aromatic compounds react with electrophiles. You will see similarities with the behaviour of enols. 

The class of phosphaalkenes with isolated P=C double bonds was first synthes ized by Becker.33 His synthetic strategy starting from trimethylsilylphosphines and acyl chlorides is still the most versatile (Protocol 3). The principle is based on the easily achievable, 1,3-silatropic migration of a silyl group bonded to phosphorus to a doubly bonded element such as nitrogen, oxygen, or sulfur. The process is favoured energetically by the construction of the P=C double bond with concomitant formation of a very stable silicon-element bond. 

The chemical reactions of nitrogen and phosphorus are similar because they share the same number of electrons in their outer shell (five). The reactivity of oxygen resembles the reactivity of sulfur because of their shared outer-shell occupancy (six). This outer-shell occupancy of an atom is called its valence. Carbon has a valence of four (with four electrons in its outer shell), and its chemistry shares some similarities with silicon, which also has a valence of four. Silicon, germanium, tin, and lead, which have the same valence, have all been used in various proportions to form semiconductors, interesting and important materials that we will investigate later when we discuss chemical bonding. 

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