From elusive thio- and selenosilanoic acids to copper(i) complexes with intermolecular SiE → Cu–O–Si coordination modes (E = S, Se)

Abstract

The facile synthesis of the first stable selenosilanoic acid–base adduct LSi(Se)OH(dmap) 3 (L = CH[C(Me)NAr]₂, Ar = 2,6-iPr₂C₆H₃, dmap = 4-dimethylaminopyridine), the heavier analogue of the thiosilanoic acid adduct LSi(S)OH(dmap) 1, is reported. Both adducts 1 and 3 react readily with MesCu (Mes = 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl) to form the novel dimeric Cu(I) complexes [LSi(E)OCu]₂ (4: E = S; 5: E = Se) with unprecedented intermolecular SiE → Cu–O–Si coordination modes. The latter are efficient pre-catalysts for the Cu(I)-mediated aziridination of styrene with PhIN(Ts) (Ts = tosyl).