Tuning the Si-N Interaction in Metalated Oligosilanylsilatranes

Most known silatrane chemistry is concerned with examples where the attached silatrane substituent atom is that of an element more electronegative than silicon. The current study features silylated silatranes with a range of electropositive elements attached to the silyl group. The resulting compounds show different degrees of electron density on the silatrane-substituted silicon atom. This directly affects the Si-N interaction of the silatrane which can be monitored either by ²⁹Si NMR spectroscopy or directly by single crystal XRD analysis of the Si-N distance. Within the sample of study the Si-N distance is increased from 2.153 to 3.13 Å. Moreover, the bis(trimethylsilyl)silatranylsilyl unit was studied as a substituent for disilylated germylene adducts.