The donor-stabilized silylene bis[N,N'-diisopropylbenzamidinato(-)]silicon(II): synthesis, electronic structure, and reactivity.

A convenient and robust synthesis of bis[N,N'-diisopropylbenzamidinato(-)]silicon(II) (1), a donor-stabilized silylene, has been developed (35 g scale). To get further information about the reactivity profile of 1, a series of oxidative addition reactions were studied. Treatment of 1 with PhSe-SePh (Se-Se bond activation), C6F6 (C-F activation), and CO2 (C=O activation/cycloaddition) yielded the neutral six-coordinate silicon(IV) complexes 10, 11, and 13, respectively. Treatment of 1 with N2O resulted in the formation of the dinuclear five-coordinate silicon(IV) complex 12 (oxidative addition/dimerization), which contains a four-membered Si2O2 ring. Compounds 10-13 were characterized by NMR spectroscopic studies in the solid state and in solution and by crystal structure analyses. Silylene 1 is three-coordinate in the solid state (from crystal structure analysis) and exists as the four-coordinate isomer 1' in benzene solution (from computational studies). Based on state-of-the-art relativistic DFT analyses, the four-coordinate species 1' was demonstrated to be the thermodynamically favored isomer in benzene solution (favored by ΔG = 6.6 kcal mol(-1) over the three-coordinate species 1). The reason for this was studied by bonding analyses of 1 and 1'. Furthermore, the (29)Si NMR chemical shifts of 1 and 1' were computed, and in the case of 1' it was analyzed how this NMR spectroscopic parameter is affected by solvation. These studies further supported the assumption that the silylene is four-coordinate in solution.