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Selective Electrochemical Hydrolysis of Hydrosilanes to Silanols via Anodically Generated Silyl Cations
Hao Liang1, Lu-Jun Wang1, Yun-Xing Ji1
1State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
Abstract:
The first electrochemical hydrolysis of hydrosilanes to silanols under mild and neutral reaction conditions is reported. The practical protocol employs commercially available and cheap NHPI as a hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT) mediator and operates at room temperature with high selectivity, leading to various valuable silanols in moderate to good yields. Notably, this electrochemical method exhibits a broad substrate scope and high functional-group compatibility, and it is applicable to late-stage functionalization of complex molecules. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest that the reaction appears to proceed through a nucleophilic substitution reaction of an electrogenerated silyl cation with H2 O.
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