The reaction of tert-butyllithium with chloromethylphenylvinylsilane at low temperatures in hexane gave a 48% yield of a mixture of the five isomers of 1,3-dimethyl-1,3-diphenyl-2,4-dineopentyl-1,3-disilacyclobutane, formed by the head-to-tail dimerization of both E- and Z-1-methyl-1-phenyl-2-neopentylsilenes, along with an acyclic dimer. These were separated and their stereochemistry was established by ('1)H- and ('13)C-NMR spectroscopy.
The E- and Z-silenes were also trapped as their {4 + 2} cycloadducts with cyclopentadiene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene and anthracene, which also were separated and stereochemically characterized. A consistent mole ratio of 70:30 for the E- and Z-silene adducts is interpreted as evidence for stereochemical induction in the silene generation reaction. It is also suggested that the dimerization of the silenes to give the 1,3-disilacyclobutanes occurs by a nonstereospecific stepwise pathway.
When E- or Z-1-methyl-1-phenyl-2-neopentylsilene was generated by the retro-Diels-Alder flow vacuum thermolysis of its corresponding cyclopentadiene or anthracene adduct at temperatures between 400 and 600(DEGREES)C and then trapped with 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, the stereochemical distribution of the products is independent of the stereochemistry of the silene precursor, indicating that the silene is not configurationally stable towards cis-trans isomerization at these temperatures. Evidence that the intermolecular ene reaction and the {4 + 2} cycloaddition which occur with 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene are concerted is presented.
When either the E- or Z-silene, generated by the sealed tube thermolysis of its anthracene adduct by 300(DEGREES)C, was trapped with trimethylmethoxysilene, the diastereomer obtained depended on the stereochemistry of the silene precursor, showing that the silene is configurationally stable towards cis-trans isomerization up to 300(DEGREES)C.
The temperature dependence of the ratio of the two diastereomers obtained when the silene formed from the pure E- or Z-anthracene adduct was trapped at higher temperatures permitted the determination of an activation energy for the silene isomerization. The activation energies for the E- and Z- and Z- to E-silene isomerization are 45 (+OR-) 6 and 20 (+OR-) 4 kcal mol('-1), respectively. The significance of these values is discussed.
