J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128, 14442-14443 (2006).

© American Chemical Society

Diphenylsilylene

Andrey G. Moiseev and William J. Leigh*

Contribution from the Department of Chemistry, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON Canada L8S 4M1.

Lamp or pulsed laser photolysis of 1,1,3,3-tetramethyl-2,2-diphenyl-1,2,3-trisilacycloheptane affords diphenylsilylene (SiPh2) and 1,1,2,2-tetramethyl-1,2-disilacyclohexane as the major products with significantly higher selectivity than that reported previously from other SiPh2 precursors. The UV/vis spectrum of the silylene in anhydrous hexane at 25 oC, determined by laser flash photolysis methods, agrees well with that obtained in frozen hydrocarbon matrixes, and that of the dimerization product, tetraphenyldisilene, is tentatively assigned. Absolute rate constants measured for reaction of the species with a number of characteristic silylene scavengers are in close agreement with those reported previously for SiMe2 with the same or similar substrates.


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