Frustrated Lewis Pairs Comprising Nitrogen Lewis Acids for Si-H Bond Activation

N-heterocyclic nitrogen Lewis acids are a recent addition to the field of organic chemistry. Based on nitrenium cations, these acids where previously shown to generate Lewis adducts when combined with the appropriate Lewis bases. Herein, a triazinium-based Lewis acid was combined with tBu₃P to generate a frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) capable of cleaving, for the first time, Si-H bonds in silanes. Whereas low yields were initially encountered owing to insufficient Lewis acidity, a new nitrenium-based Lewis acid was synthesized, and its superior Lewis acidity was experimentally and computationally confirmed. A FLP based on this acid cleaved the Si-H bond in PhSiH₃, generating the triazane product in a quantitative yield. This unprecedented N-H triazane was fully characterized by multinuclear NMR techniques and single-crystal X-ray crystallography. A new class of compounds, N-H triazanes display the potential capacity to participate in hydride transfer reactions.