New Silicon Derived Frustrated Lewis Pair

A Frustrated Lewis Pair (FLP) is a partially formed Lewis Acid-Base adduct in which the properties of the two centres are unquenched. This means that the adduct still features an electrophilic centre and a nucleophilic centre active in close proximity. As now well illustrated in the literature it is possible to use FLPs’ for the activation of small molecules, like H2 and CO2. My thesis work focuses on the study of the possible application of the Martin spirosilane as a Lewis acid in the formation of new FLPs. This particular spirosilane was chosen because of its high Lewis acidity and of the ability of silicon to become hypervalent . The chosen Lewis bases as partners of the Martin spirosilane are NHC carbenes due to their high nucleophilicity and steric hindrance. Our findings along these lines will be presented.