Silicon-Stereogenic Monohydrosilane: Synthesis and Applications

Optically active organosilanes have been demonstrated to be versatile chiral reagents in synthetic chemistry since the early seminal contributions by Sommer and Corriu. Among these silicon-containing chiral architectures, monohydrosilanes, which bear a Si-H bond, hold a unique position because of their facile transformations through stereospecific Si-carbon or Si-heteroatom bond-formation reactions. In addition, those compounds have also been leveraged as chiral reagents for alcohol resolution, chiral auxiliaries, mechanistic probes, as well as potential optoelectronic materials. This Minireview comprehensively summarizes the synthesis and synthetic applications of silicon-stereogenic monohydrosilanes, particularly the advances in the transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of this class of functional molecules.

Automated summary

Optically active organosilanes have been demonstrated to be versatile chiral reagents in synthetic chemistry. Monohydrosilanes, which bear a Si-H bond, are especially unique due to their facile transformations through stereospecific bond-formation reactions. In addition, they have also been used as chiral reagents for alcohol resolution, chiral auxiliaries, mechanistic probes, and potential optoelectronic materials.