Reactivity of Cyclic Silenolates Revisited

The stable exocyclic silenolates 2a–c (2a, R = Mes; 2b, R = o-Tol; 2c, R = 1-Ad) were fully characterized by NMR and UV–vis spectroscopy. According to spectroscopic and structural features, 2a–c are best described as acyl silyl anions (tautomeric structure I) in solution. This behavior is also reflected by the reaction of 2a,c with MeI. Both alkylation reactions take place at the corresponding silicon atom and lead to the formation of the methylated structures 4a,b in nearly quantitative yields. Furthermore, the thermal stability of exocyclic silenolates 2a,c was investigated. In the case of 2a, a thermally induced intramolecular sila-Peterson alkenation was observed at 60 °C. This transformation allowed straightforward access to 2-oxahexasilabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-8-ide 5 as a structurally complex, bicyclic silicon framework. In contrast to that, heating of 2c, as an example of an alkyl-substituted silenolate, led to an unexpected degradation to uncharacterized polymers. However, we were able to isolate the...