An intramolecular ortho-assisted activation of the silicon-hydrogen bond in arylsilanes: an experimental and...

An intramolecular activation of the Si-H bond in arylsilanes by selected ortho-assisting functional groups based on boron, carbon and phosphorus was investigated experimentally and by means of theoretical calculations. The major conclusion drawn is that the presence of a negatively charged oxygen atom in the functional group is essential for providing effective chelation to the silicon atom which in turn results in the increased hydridic character of a resulting five-coordinated species. In contrast, an intermolecular attack of hydroxide on the silicon atom in aryldimethylsilane results in the activation of the silicon-aryl bond. This increased reactivity of the Si-H bond in intramolecularly coordinated arylsilanes can be ascribed to a significant trans effect which operates in the preferred configuration. Hydrolytic cleavage of the Si-H bond results in dihydrogen elimination and the formation of various silicon heterocyclic systems such as benzosiloxaboroles, spiro-bis(siloxa)borinate, benzosilalactone and benzophosphoxasilole. In addition, intermolecular reduction of benzaldehydes with ortho-boronated arylsilane was observed whereas compounds bearing other reducible functional groups (COMe, COOEt, CN and NO₂) were inert under comparable conditions. Specifically, an intramolecular reduction of the CN group in an ortho-silylated benzonitrile derivative was observed. The mechanism of Si-H bond activation was investigated by the DFT theoretical calculations. The calculations showed that the intramolecular coordination of the silicon atom effectively prevents the cleavage of the Si-aryl bond. Furthermore, the reaction is favored in anionic systems bearing COO^-, B(OH)₃^- or CH₂O^- groups, while in the case of neutral functional groups such as PO(OEt)₂ the process is much slower.