Pentacoordinate silicon derivatives with a chloromethyl ligand are versatile compounds that are usually obtained from the corresponding tetravalent trialkoxy- or trihalogeno(chloromethyl)silane. We describe herein the synthesis of a chloromethylsilicate bearing two Martin's ligands readily obtained by addition of in situ generated chloromethyllithium to a spirosilane. The reactivity of this new species was evaluated and it has been established that the chloride is displaced by strong nucleophiles such as alkyllithiums and (hetero)aryllithiums. In Lewis acidic conditions, the pentacoordinate silicon species rearranges through a formal insertion of a methylene into one Si-C bond, to form a new tetravalent spirosilane with a six-membered ring. The same kind of rearrangement can be triggered also by addition of a Lewis base. The mechanism of the rearrangement in both conditions has been studied by means of DFT calculations.
Keywords: DFT calculations; Sila-Matteson rearrangement; pentacoordination; silicon; spirosilane.