Thermal rearrangement of a 1,2-bis(silylene): Synthesis and crystal structure of a silyl-silylene

Thermal rearrangement of the 1,2-bis(silylene), [{(4-(BuPh)-Ph-t)C(NDip)(2)}Si-](2) (Dip = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl, leads to the silyl-silylene, {(4-(BuPh)-Ph-t)C(NDip)(2)}Si-Si(H) {N(Dip)C(=NDip)(4-(BuPh-H)-Ph-t)}, via an intramolecular C-H activation reaction. The X-ray crystal structure, and limited spectroscopic data, for the compound are reported. The structure of the silyl-silylene incorporates an exocyclic imine fragment, which is unprecedented for this compound class.