Organosilicon chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds containing carbon–silicon chemical bond, to which they are called organosilicon compounds. Most organosilicon compounds are similar to the ordinary organic compounds, being colourless, flammable, hydrophobic, and stable to air. Silicon carbide is an inorganic compound.
History
In 1863,
Charles Friedel and
James Crafts made the first organochlorosilane compound.
The same year, they also described a "polysilicic acid ether" in the preparation of
Ethanol and methyl-o-silicic acid.
Extensive research in the field of organosilicon compounds was pioneered in the beginning of 20th century by
Frederic Kipping.
He also had coined the term "silicone" (resembling
, though this is erroneous)
in relation to these materials in 1904. In recognition of Kipping's achievements, the Dow Chemical Company had established an award in the 1960s that is given for significant contributions to the field of silicon chemistry.
In his works, Kipping was noted for using
to make
alkylsilanes and
arylsilanes and preparing
Silicone resin and polymers for the first time.
In 1945, Eugene G. Rochow also made a significant contribution to the field of organosilicon chemistry by first describing the Müller-Rochow process.
Occurrence and applications
Organosilicon compounds are widely encountered in commercial products. Most common are antifoamers,
(sealant), adhesives, and coatings made from
. Other important uses include agricultural and plant control
commonly used in conjunction with
and
.
Biology and medicine
Carbon–silicon bonds are absent in
biochemistry, however enzymes have been used to artificially create carbon-silicon bonds in living microbes.
, on the other hand, have known existence in
.
is an organosilicon compound that functions as a
pyrethroid insecticide. Several organosilicon compounds have been investigated as pharmaceuticals.
Bonding
| + Bonds relevant to organosilicon chemistry |
|
| 334 |
| 196 |
| 314 |
| 414 |
| 314 |
| 355 |
| 460 |
|
+ Dissociation energies of bonds to silicon |
|
| 327(10) |
| 343(50) |
| 435(21) |
| 456(42) |
| 540(13) |
| 298.49(46) |
| 339(84) |
| 439(38) |
| 798(8) |
| 619(13) |
| 531(25) |
| 339(17) |
| 339 |
| 368(31) |
| 506(38) |
In the great majority of organosilicon compounds, Si is tetravalent with tetrahedral molecular geometry. Compared to carbon–carbon bonds, carbon–silicon bonds are longer and weaker.
The C–Si bond is somewhat polarised towards carbon due to carbon's greater electronegativity (C 2.55 vs Si 1.90), and single bonds from Si to electronegative elements are very strong.
The Si–C bond (1.89 Å) is significantly longer than a typical C–C bond (1.54 Å), suggesting that silyl substitutents have less steric demand than their organyl analogues. When geometry allows, silicon exhibits negative hyperconjugation, reversing the usual polarization on neighboring atoms.
Preparation
The first organosilicon compound, tetraethylsilane, was prepared by
Charles Friedel and
James Crafts in 1863 by reaction of tetrachlorosilane with
diethylzinc.
Most organosilicon compounds derive from organosilicon chlorides . These methyl chlorides are produced by the "Direct process", which entails the reaction of methyl chloride with a silicon-copper alloy. The main and most sought-after product is dimethyldichlorosilane:
A variety of other products are obtained, including trimethylsilyl chloride and methyltrichlorosilane. About 1 million tons of organosilicon compounds are prepared annually by this route. The method can also be used for phenyl chlorosilanes.
Hydrosilylation
Another major method for the formation of Si-C bonds is
hydrosilylation (also called hydrosilation).
In this process, compounds with Si–H bonds (
) are added to unsaturated substrates. Commercially, the main substrates are
. Other unsaturated functional groups —
,
,
, and
— also participate, but these reactions are of little economic value.
Hydrosilylation requires metal catalysts, especially those based on platinum group metals. In the related silylmetalation, a metal replaces the hydrogen atom.
Via cleavage of Si–Si bonds
Hexamethyldisilane reacts with
methyllithium to give trimethylsilyl lithium:
Similarly, tris(trimethylsilyl)silyl lithium is derived from tetrakis(trimethylsilyl)silane:
Functional groups
Silicon is a component of many functional groups. Most of these are analogous to organic compounds. The overarching exception is the rarity of multiple bonds to silicon, as reflected in the double bond rule.
Silanols, siloxides, siloxanes, and silazanes
are analogues of alcohols. They are generally prepared by hydrolysis of silyl chlorides:
[
]
- + → + HCl
Less frequently silanols are prepared by oxidation of silyl hydrides, a reaction that uses a metal catalyst:
- 2 + → 2
Many silanols have been isolated including and . They are about 500x more acidic than the corresponding alcohols. are the deprotonated derivatives of silanols:
- + NaOH → +
Silanols tend to dehydrate to give :
- 2 → +
Polymers with repeating siloxane linkages are called . Compounds with an Si=O double bond called are extremely unstable.
Analogous compounds with nitrogen instead of oxygen are the .
Silyl ethers
have the connectivity Si–O–C. They are typically prepared by the reaction of alcohols with silyl chlorides:
Silyl ethers are extensively used as for alcohols.
Exploiting the strength of the Si–F bond, fluoride sources such as tetra-n-butylammonium fluoride (TBAF) are used in deprotection of silyl ethers:
Silyl chlorides
Organosilyl chlorides are important commodity chemicals. They are mainly used to produce silicone polymers as described above. Especially important silyl chlorides dimethyldichlorosilane (), methyltrichlorosilane (), and trimethylsilyl chloride () are all produced by direct process. More specialized derivatives that find commercial applications include dichloromethylphenylsilane, trichloro(chloromethyl)silane, trichloro(dichlorophenyl)silane, trichloroethylsilane, and phenyltrichlorosilane.
Although proportionately a minor outlet, organosilicon compounds are widely used in organic synthesis. Notably trimethylsilyl chloride is the main silylating agent. One classic method called the Flood reaction for the synthesis of this compound class is by heating hexaalkyldisiloxanes with concentrated sulfuric acid and a sodium halide.
Silyl hydrides
The silicon to hydrogen bond is longer than the C–H bond (148 compared to 105 pm) and weaker (299 compared to 338 kJ/mol). Hydrogen is more electronegative than silicon hence the naming convention of silyl hydrides. Commonly the presence of the hydride is not mentioned in the name of the compound. Triethylsilane has the formula . Phenylsilane is . The parent compound is called silane.
Silylium ions
Silylium ions have general formula SiRR+. They are more stable in the gas phase than the corresponding , because silicon is more electropositive than carbon. However, silicon stabilizes higher coordination numbers than carbon, such that silylium ions are much less stable and more electrophilic in condensed phases. They can be isolated with noncoordinating solvents and anions; typically, they are synthesized via hydride abstraction from a hydrosilane.
Silenes
Organosilicon compounds, unlike their carbon counterparts, do not have a rich double bond chemistry.
have Si=Si double bonds and are silicon analogues of an alkyne. The first silyne (with a silicon to carbon triple bond) was reported in 2010.
Siloles
Siloles, also called silacyclopentadienes, are members of a larger class of compounds called . They are the silicon analogs of and are of current academic interest due to their electroluminescence and other electronic properties.
Pentacoordinated silicon
Unlike carbon, silicon compounds can be coordinated to five atoms as well in a group of compounds ranging from so-called , such as phenylsilatrane, to a uniquely stable pentaorganosilicate:
The stability of hypervalent silicon is the basis of the Hiyama coupling, a coupling reaction used in certain specialized organic synthetic applications. The reaction begins with the activation of a Si–C bond by fluoride:
Reactions of Si–C bonds
Unstrained silicon-carbon bonds are stable toward oxygen and water, at least under ambient conditions. Unsaturated silanes are susceptible to electrophilic substitution. Some strong acids will protodesilate arylsilanes and even some alkylsilanes. Most nucleophiles are too weak to displace carbon from silicon: the exceptions are fluoride ions and .
"Simple tetraalkylsilanes are known to undergo random exchange of alkyls in the presence of aluminum halides."
In the Peterson olefination, an organosilicon anion attacks a carbonyl to form an alkene
Environmental effects
Organosilicon compounds affect bee (and other insect) immune expression, making them more susceptible to viral infection.
See also
-
Compounds of carbon with period 3 elements: organoaluminum compounds, organophosphorus compounds, organosulfur compounds
-
Compounds of carbon with other carbon group elements: organogermanium compounds, organotin compounds, organolead compounds
-
, the carbene counterparts
-
, the carbenoid counterparts
-
Decamethylsilicocene
External links
