Rearrangement of Cyclic Silanes with Aluminum Trichloride

Abstract

The Al(Fe)Cl3-catalyzed rearrangement of monocyclic permethylated oligosilanes was investigated for different isomers in the range of Me14Si7 to Me28Si14. The reactions of the smaller isomers (Me14Si7 to Me20Si10) resulted in the selective formation of single compounds. In contrast to this, the rearrangements of isomers Me22Si11, Me24Si12, Me26Si13, and Me28Si14 yielded mixtures of isomers. Several of the obtained compounds could be characterized unambiguously by single crystal structure analysis. On the basis of these data and careful analysis of 29Si NMR data we conclude that in all cases cyclopentasilanes were formed as the final products.