Bypassing a highly unstable frustrated Lewis pair: dihydrogen cleavage by a thermally robust silylium-phosphine adduct
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Updated: Apr 24, 2026

Synthesis of a Thiol Building Block for the Crystallization of a Semiconducting Gyroidal Metal-sulfur Framework
Published on: April 9, 2018
Thomas J Herrington1, Bryan J Ward, Laurence R Doyle
1Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, U.K. a.ashley@imperial.ac.uk.
Abstract:
The thermally robust silylium complex [iPr3Si-PtBu3](+)[B(C6F5)4](-) (1) activates H2/D2 at 90 °C (PhCl); no evidence for dissociation into the separated Lewis pair is found. DFT calculations show H2 cleavage proceeds via Si-P bond elongation to form an encounter complex directly from the adduct, thus avoiding the non-isolable iPr3Si(+)-PtBu3 FLP.
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