Reaction of the stable silylene Si[(NCH2But)2C6H4-1,2] with lithium amides

Abstract

The thermally stable silylene Si[(NCH₂Bu^t)₂C₆H₄-1,2] 1 undergoes oxidative addition reactions with the lithium amides LiNRR′ (R = SiMe₃, R′ = Bu^t; R = SiMe₃, R′ = C₆H₃Me₂-2,6; R = R′ = Me or R = R′ = Prⁱ) to afford the new lithium amides Li(THF)₂[N(R)Si(SiMe₃){(NCH₂Bu^t)₂C₆H₄-1,2}] [R = Bu^t (2) or R = C₆H₃Me₂-2,6 (3a)] or the new tris(amino)functionalised silyllithiums Li(THF)_x[Si{(NCH₂Bu^t)₂C₆H₄-1,2}NRR′] [R = SiMe₃, R′ = C₆H₃Me₂-2,6, x = 2 (3); R = R′ = Me, x = 3 (4) or R = R′ = Prⁱ, x = 3 (5)]. Compounds 4 and 5 are stable at ambient temperature but compound 3 is thermally labile and converts into 3a upon heating. The pathway for the formation of 2 and 3 is discussed and the X-ray structures of 2–5 are presented.