Cobalt-Promoted Electroreductive Cross-Coupling of Prop-2-yn-1-yl Acetates with Chloro(vinyl)silanes

Org Lett. 2023 Oct 6;25(39):7263-7267. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.3c02989. Epub 2023 Sep 27.

Abstract

An electroreductive cross-coupling of prop-2-yn-1-yl acetates with chloro(vinyl)silanes for producing tetrasubstituted silylallenes is developed. The method enables the formation of a new C─Si bond through the cathodic reduction formation of the silyl radical, radical addition across the C≡C bond, the alkenyl anion intermediate formation, and deacetoxylation and represents a mild, practical route to the synthesis of silylallenes. Mechanistic studies reveal that CoCl2 acts as the mediator to promote the formation of the alkenyl anion intermediate via electron transfer.