The Pentamethylcyclopentadienylsilicon(II) Cation as a Catalyst for the Specific Degradation of Oligo(ethyleneglycol) Diethers

Abstract

Catalytic open sandwiches: Oligo(ethyleneglycol) diethers RO(CH2CH2O)nR are degraded by the unusual catalyst Cp*Si+ (see scheme). The open coordination sphere at silicon allows up to four SiO contacts; crystal structure data of the reactive compounds [Cp*Si(dme)]+BR4− and [Cp*Si([12]crown-4)]+BR4− (R=C6F5) show weakly bound ether molecules. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.