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Updated: Nov 11, 2025
06:53
Fabrication and Optimization of Type II Silicon Clathrate Films
Published on: October 14, 2025
385
Chemical Bonding in Silicon Carbonyl Complexes
Tetiana Sergeieva1, Debdeep Mandal1, Diego M Andrada1
1Inorganic and Computational Chemistry Group, Chemistry Department, Saarland University, Campus C4.1, 66123, Saarbrücken, Germany.
Chemistry (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|March 29, 2021
Summary
Recent advances in silylene-carbonyl chemistry reveal that a unique pi-back donation from silicon
Area of Science:
- Organosilicon Chemistry
- Computational Chemistry
Background:
- Silylene-carbonyl complexes have been known for decades.
- Recently, isolable examples have been synthesized, prompting a re-evaluation of their stability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-evaluate the bonding situation in silylene-carbonyl complexes.
- To explain the origins of their remarkable stability using Kohn-Sham molecular orbital theory.
Main Methods:
- Kohn-Sham molecular orbital theory framework.
- Analysis of donor-acceptor interactions and pi-back donation.
Main Results:
- The chemical bond involves sigma-donation from CO to silicon and pi-back donation from silicon to CO.
- A crucial pi-back donation from a perpendicular R-Si sigma-orbital to CO's antibonding orbitals drives stability.
- Silicon atom pyramidalization is not directly correlated with pi-back donation strength.
Conclusions:
- The bonding in silylene-carbonyl complexes is more complex than previously thought.
- An additional pi-back donation is key to understanding the stability of these compounds.
- This finding is essential for expanding the scope of silylene-carbonyl chemistry.
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