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Updated: May 27, 2026

A Protocol for Safe Lithiation Reactions Using Organolithium Reagents
Published on: November 12, 2016
Silylation products of cyclic tri-aminal carbanions and their lithiation
Constantin Sicking1, Andreas Mix, Beate Neumann
1Fakultät für Chemie, Lehrstuhl für Anorganische Chemie und Strukturchemie, Universität Bielefeld, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany.
Abstract:
The structure of 1,3,5-trimethyl-1,3,5-triaza-cyclohexane (TMTAC) was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction and compared with earlier gas-phase data. It shows a preference for an aee-conformation in all phases. Lithiated TMTAC, [(RLi)(2)·(RH)] (1) (R = 2,4,6-trimethyl-2,4,6-triaza-cyclohex-1-yl), was reacted with Et(3)SiCl, Ph(3)SiCl and PhMe(2)SiCl to afford the substituted silanes Et(3)SiR (1), Ph(3)SiR (2) and PhMe(2)SiR (3) in moderate yields. They were characterised by NMR spectroscopy ((1)H, (13)C, (29)Si). 1 reacts with Me(2)SiCl(2) and Ph(2)SiCl(2) to give Me(2)SiR(2) (5) and Ph(2)SiR(2) (6) which were characterised by NMR spectroscopy. 5 was also identified by crystal structure determination. Analogous triple substitution could not be observed by employing trichlorosilanes. Quantumchemical calculations explain this by sterical overcrowding of the silicon atom. The reaction of 1 with SiCl(4) did not yield fourfold substitution but a formal insertion product of SiCl(2) into a C-N bond of the TMTAC ring (2,4,6-trimethyl-2,4,6-triaza-1,1-dichloro-1-sila-cycloheptane, 7) in very small quantities. It was identified by X-ray crystallography and shows an intramolecular Si···N dative bond. The reactions of (3) and (5) with n-butyl lithium afforded lithiation of the silicon bound methyl groups in both cases. The products, 8 and 9, were characterised by NMR spectroscopy ((1)H, (13)C, (29)Si), 8 was also characterised by X-ray crystallography.
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