Multispectroscopic Investigation of the Organosilyl Ether sec-Butoxytrimethylsilane

In a multispectroscopic approach, we investigated the tailored chiral organosilicon compound sec-butoxytrimethylsilane in the gas phase and report its racemic and enantiopure synthesis. We characterized the structural and conformational flexibility using chirped-pulse Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy in a supersonic jet and identified three different conformers from the analysis of the rotational spectrum supported by quantum-chemical calculations. For the lowest energy conformer, characteristic splitting patterns are observed, matching the internal rotation of two nonequivalent methyl rotors, which can be attributed to two out of the three methyl groups attached to the silicon atom. Complementary synchrotron-based photoelectron spectroscopy provided the Si 2p core-level binding energies, characterizing the electronic environment of silicon in this chiral organosilicon framework. These results establish a detailed picture of both the structural dynamics and the electronic properties of this flexible silicon-containing molecule, providing a foundation for future studies of structure-property relationships in chiral organosilicon systems.