Structure and oxidation of octakis(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)octasilacubane
摘要:
The molecular structure of the silyl-substituted octasilacubane [(t-BuMe2Si)Si](8) (1) was analyzed by X-ray crystallography, and the structural parameters (bond length and angles) were compared with those of the alkyl- and aryl-substituted octasilacubanes. A thermogravimetric analysis revealed that 1 remained stable under argon up to 300 degreesC, indicating that 1 is much more thermally stable than alkyl-substituted (ThexSi)8 (Thex = 1,1,2-trimethylpropyl) (2), which decomposed at 200 degreesC. Although compound 1 is stable in the air, 1 reacted with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (mCPBA). Thus, treatment of 1 with fourteen equivalents of mCPBA led to the formation of octakis(tert-butyldimethylsilylsilsesquioxane) (3) in 98% yield. The structure of 3 was also established by X-ray crystallography, indicating that all the oxygen atoms inserted into the Si-Si bonds of the Si-8 framework and the exocyclic Si-Si bonds remained intact under the conditions employed. Compound 3 is the first example of silsesquioxane with bulky silyl substituents, and shows relatively intense absorptions in the UV region. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
The firstoctasilacubane, octakis-(t-butyldimethylsilyl)pentacyclo[4.2.0.02,5.03,8.04,7]octasilane, was synthesised in one step by condensation of 2,2,3,3-tetrabromo-1,4-di-t-butyl-1,1,4,4-tetramethyltetrasilane or 1,1,1-tribromo-2-t-butyl-2,2-dimethyldisilane with sodium in toluene.