CHAPTER 10: Silyliumylidenes and Silylones: Low-valent Silicon Species in Small Molecule Activation

Low-valent silicon compounds have received a great deal of research interest in recent years. As the field has developed, new classes of species previously thought to be unstable have been isolated and investigated in the condensed phase. Of these molecules, we wish to highlight two particularly interesting classes of low-valent silicon reactive intermediates: silyliumylidenes, which are silicon(II) cations, and silylones, neutral silicon(0) species possessing two lone pairs of electrons at silicon. The chemistry of both silyliumylidenes and silylones is still in its infancy, but the diverse reactivity displayed by these silicon compounds is promising for future catalytic applications.