Isolable anion radical of blue disilene (tBu2MeSi) 2Si=Si(SiMetBu2)2 formed upon one-electron reduction: Synthesis and characterization

Akira Sekiguchi, Shigeyoshi Inoue, Masaaki Ichinohe, Yoriko Arai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

107 Scopus citations

Abstract

The highly twisted tetrakis(di-tert-butylmethylsilyl)disilene 4 was prepared and reacted with tBuLi in THF, producing disilene anion radical 5 upon one-electron reduction. The anion radical 5 was isolated in the form of its lithium salt as extremely air- and moisture-sensitive red crystals. The molecular structure of 5 was established by X-ray crystallography, which showed a nearly orthogonal structure (twisting angle of 88°) along the central Si-Si bond, with a length of 2.341(5) Å, which is 3.6% elongated relative to that of 4. The interesting feature of 5 is that one of the central Si atoms has radical character, whereas the other Si atom has silyl anion character. An electron spin resonance (ESR) study of the hyperfine coupling constants of the 29Si nuclei indicates that rapid spin exchange occurs between these central Si atoms on the ESR time scale.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9626-9629
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume126
Issue number31
DOIs
StatePublished - 11 Aug 2004
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Isolable anion radical of blue disilene (tBu2MeSi) 2Si=Si(SiMetBu2)2 formed upon one-electron reduction: Synthesis and characterization'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this