The trimethylsilyl substituent effect on the reactivity of silanes. Structural correlations between silyl radicals and their parent silanes

Catalyst-free visible light-promoted defunctionalization of alkyl isocyanides with a hydrosilane through C-N bond cleavage

A radical initiator-free defunctionalization reaction of alkyl isocyanides with a hydrosilane has been established through C-N bond cleavage under catalyst-free visible light irradiation. Various alkyl isocyanides participated in the defunctionalization with tris(trimethylsilyl)silane under blue light irradiation at room temperature, delivering the reduced products in good yields with high chemoselectivity.

Metal-free reductive desulfurization of C-sp3-substituted thiols using phosphite catalysis

Phosphines and phosphites are critical tools for non-metal desulfurative methodologies due to the strength of the P[double bond, length as m-dash]S bond. An overarching premise in these methods has been that stoichiometric (or excess) P(iii) reagent is required for reactivity. Despite decades of research, a desulfurative process that is catalytic in phosphine/phosphite has not been reported. Here, we report the successful merging of two thermal radical processes: the desulfurization of unactivated and activated alkyl thiols and the reduction of P(v) = S to P(iii) by reaction with a silyl radical species. We employ catalytic trimethyl phosphite, catalytic azo-bis(cyclohexyl)nitrile, and two equivalents of tris(trimethylsilyl)silane as the stoichiometric reductant and sulfur atom scavenger. This method is tolerant of common organic functional groups and affords products in good to excellent yields.

Silane-Acrylate Chemistry for Regulating Network Formation in Radical Photopolymerization

Photoinitiated silane-ene chemistry has the potential to pave the way toward spatially resolved organosilicon compounds, which might find application in biomedicine, microelectronics, and other advanced fields. Moreover, this approach could serve as a viable alternative to the popular photoinitiated thiol-ene chemistry, which gives access to defined and functional photopolymer networks. A difunctional bis(trimethylsilyl)silane with abstractable hydrogens (DSiH) was successfully synthesized in a simple one-pot procedure. The radical reactivity of DSiH with various homopolymerizable monomers (i.e., (meth)acrylate, vinyl ester, acrylamide) was assessed via 1H NMR spectroscopic studies. DSiH shows good reactivity with acrylates and vinyl esters. The most promising silane-acrylate system was further investigated in cross-linking formulations toward its reactivity (e.g., heat of polymerization, curing time, occurrence of gelation, double-bond conversion) and compared to state-of-the-art thiol-acrylate resins. The storage stability of prepared resin formulations is greatly improved for silane-acrylate systems vs thiol-ene resins. Double-bond conversion at the gel point (DBCgel) and overall DBC were increased, and polymerization-induced shrinkage stress has been significantly reduced with the introduction of silane-acrylate chemistry. Resulting photopolymer networks exhibit a homogeneous network architecture (indicated by a narrow glass transition) that can be tuned by varying silane concentration, and this confirms the postulated regulation of radical network formation. Similar to thiol-acrylate networks, this leads to more flexible photopolymer networks with increased elongation at break and improved impact resistance. Additionally, swelling tests indicate a high gel fraction for silane-acrylate photopolymers.

Copper-catalyzed alkylarylation of activated alkenes using isocyanides as the alkyl source: an efficient radical access to 3,3-dialkylated oxindoles

A novel copper-catalyzed oxidative cyclization of N-arylacrylamides for the synthesis of 3,3-dialkylated oxindoles is described using isocyanides as alkyl radical precursors.

Chiral Polycyclic Ketones via Desymmetrization of Dihaloolefins

3-Chloronorbornenone (R)-1a (98% ee) was obtained from trichloronorbornene 5 in two steps by the in situ generation of dichloronorbornadiene 2a with t-BuOK and desymmetrization with (-)-ephedrine, followed by hydrolysis with PPTS. The generality of this desymmetrization with (-)-ephedrine was tested with dibromonorbornadiene 2c and other substituted dichloronorbornadienes.