Rhodium-Catalyzed Hydrolytic Cleavage of the Silicon-Carbon Bond of Silacyclobutanes to Access Silanols

Herein, we report the first rhodium-catalyzed hydrolytic cleavage of the silicon-carbon bond in silacyclobutanes using water as the reactant. A series of silacyclobutanes could be employed in this reaction in the presence of the Rh/BINAP complex, resulting in the corresponding silanols in good yields. Additionally, a chiral 1,1,4,4-tetraaryl-2,3-O-isopropylidene-l-threitol-derived phosphoramidite ligand could be used in this reaction to yield Si-stereogenic silanol with promising enantioselectivity.

Automated summary

In this study, we report the first rhodium-catalyzed hydrolytic cleavage of the silicon-carbon bond in silacyclobutanes using water as the reactant. A range of silacyclobutanes can be utilized in this reaction with the presence of Rh/BINAP complex, yielding the corresponding silanols in good yields. Moreover, a chiral ligand derived from 1,1,4,4-tetraaryl-2,3-O-isopropylidene-l-threitol-derived phosphoramidite can be employed to obtain Si-stereogenic silanol with promising enantioselectivity.