Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity of 1,2-(1‘,1‘,2‘,2‘-Tetramethyldisilane-1‘,2‘)carborane

The novel strained compound 1,2-(1‘,1‘,2‘,2‘-tetramethyldisilane-1‘,2‘)carborane (1) was synthesized by the reaction of 1,2-dilithiocarborane and dichlorotetramethyldisilane. Compound 1 was characterized by solution methods and its structure determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In contrast to its organic analogue o-(disilanyl)phenylene, the reaction of 1 with ethanol leads to cleavage of a Si−C bond rather than a Si−Si bond. Similarly to other cyclic disilanes, exposure of a solution of 1 to oxygen leads to the insertion of an oxygen atom into the Si−Si bond. The structure of the oxygen inserted product was also determined by X-ray crystallography. The general chemistry and attempts at polymerizing 1 are briefly discussed.