Salih S. Al-Juaid, Colin Eaborn, Salima El-Hamruni, Adam Farook, Peter B. Hitchcock, Martijn Hopman, J. David Smith, William Clegg, Keith Izod and Paul O’Shaughnessy
The compounds HC(SiMe3)(SiMe2X)2, X = NMe2 or OMe, have been synthesized in several steps from the phenyl derivative HC(SiMe3)(SiMe2Ph)2 and metallated to give organometallic compounds of the type MC(SiMe3)(SiMe2X)2, M = K or Li. The structures of the compounds KC(SiMe3)2(SiMe2NMe2) and KC(SiMe2NMe2)3 consist of infinite chains in which cations are co-ordinated to both nitrogen and carbon centres, whereas the lithium compound [LiC(SiMe3)(SiMe2OMe)2]2 crystallises in a lattice of dimeric cage molecules. Structural trends in the series MC(SiMe3)n(SiMe2X)3-n, n = 0–3, M = K or Li, X = NMe2 or OMe, are discussed.