New Silicon derived Frustrated Lewis Pairs

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. This 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 and phosphine. Our findings along these lines will be presented. After the optimization of the synthesis of Martin’s spirosilane, we started with the studies of the interactions with different Lewis base. We also tested the activation of different molecules, like formaldehyde, benzyl alcohol and water. In all the cases we obtained the expected product that could be confirmed by X Ray analysis. In conclusion we prove that our system possessed a reactivity comparable with different FLP, as the activation of different molecules and the formation of abnormal adducts. In conclusion we prove that our system possesses a reactivity comparable with other FLPs, featuring the activation of different molecules and the formation of abnormal adducts.