Heavier Carbonyl Olefination: The Sila-Wittig Reaction

The Wittig reaction is one of the most versatile tools in the repertoire of organic chemists. Thus, a broad variety of carbonyl compounds can be converted to tailor-made alkenes with phosphorus ylides under mild conditions. However, no comparable reaction has been reported for silanones, the silicon congeners of ketones. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the successful application of the Wittig olefination to iminosilylsilanone 1. The selective formation of a series of silenes (R₂Si═CR₂) via the sila-Wittig reaction revealed an unprecedented approach to otherwise elusive compounds. In addition, the highly reactive and zwitterionic nature of 1 was also susceptible to nucleophilic attacks and cycloaddition reactions by and with the phosphorus ylides. Our results therefore make another important contribution to discovering the differences and similarities between carbon and silicon.