Aromatic Silicon Benzene has long intrigued chemists on account of the energy stabilization, termed aromaticity, which arises from π-electron delocalization around its ring framework. A persistent question has been how such stabilization would be impacted were the carbons to be replaced by heavier atoms such as silicon. Abersfelder et al. (p. 564 ) have prepared a benzene analog with Si atoms in place of all six-ring carbons, but a slightly altered bonding framework in which substituents outside the ring are no longer evenly distributed. Instead, the substituents pair up at two Si sites, leaving two other ring sites with no external appendages. The resulting compound no longer has a continuous network of π-electrons, but retains a degree of aromatic stabilization involving sigma and nonbonding electrons.

Silicon shuffle minimizes energy: Isomerization of the dismutational isomer of hexasilabenzene (see structure; R=2,4,6‐iPr3C6H2) produces the Si‐bridged propellane, a stable representative of the global minimum on the Si6H6 energy surface, which, despite its mass, can be distilled without decomposition. Its halogenation proceeds in the bridgehead positions. Unprecedented 29Si NMR data of the new Si6R6 isomer is explained with magnetically induced cluster currents.

The reactivity of two stable Si(6)R(6) clusters (4 and 5, R = 2,4,6-(i)Pr(3)C(6)H(2)) with unsymmetrical substitution patterns (including Si, SiR, and SiR(2) vertices) is reported. In order to account for the importance of such clusters as model systems for transient intermediates in the deposition of elemental silicon, we here propose the term "siliconoids" for silicon clusters with unsaturated valencies. With the hexasilaprismane 8a, a saturated-i.e., non-siliconoid-Si(6)R(6) isomer is accessible from a suitable Si(3) precursor. Thermal redistribution of the substituents converts 1,1,2-trichlorocyclotrisilane 6 into the corresponding 1,2,3-derivative 7 prior to the requisite reductive coupling step leading to 8a. On the other hand, a stable expanded Si(11)-siliconoid 9 was isolated as a minor side product of the thermal isomerization of 4 to 5, thus providing a first example of siliconoid cluster expansion in the condensed phase. In the solid-state structure, the two unsubstituted vertices of 9 strongly interact in a staggered propellane-like fashion. Oxidative cluster contraction of a siliconoid scaffold is observed upon treatment of siliconoid 5 with a large excess of iodine in refluxing toluene, thus providing access to a highly functionalized hexaiodocyclopentasilane 11 in high yield. Conversely, chlorination of the isomeric 4 with BiCl(3) as a mild source of Cl(2) results in a complex mixture of products from chlorination of the unsubstituted vertices as well as σ-bonds of the cluster framework of 4. The main product, 1,2-dichlorotricyclo[2.2.0.0(2,5)]hexasilane 12, undergoes thermal cluster contraction to give tricyclo[2.1.0.0(2,5)]pentasilane 14 with an exohedral chlorosilyl group.

The rearrangements of (chlorosilyl)disilenes R2(Cl)Si-(Tip)Si=SiTip2 (5a,b: Tip = 2,4,6-iPr3C6H2, a: R = Me, b: R = Ph) quantitatively yield the isomeric chlorocyclotrisilanes (6a,b). The disilene precursors 5a,b are, in turn, accessible from the reactions of the disilenide Tip2Si=Si(Tip)Li (1), that is, a disila analogue to vinyl anions, with dichlorosilanes R2SiCl2. This novel approach to cyclotrisilanes potentially allows for the facile variation of the substitution pattern and grants access to the first anionic derivatives; while the rearrangement of 5a,b to 6a,b is slow at room temperature and additionally requires the presence of THF or other n-donors, reduction of 5b with lithium instantly yields the corresponding cyclotrisilanide (7b) without detection of any open-chained isomer. Heating of a neat sample of 5b to 150 degrees C provides a completely characterized 1,2,3-trisilaindane derivative (13), strongly supporting the intermediacy of a disilanyl silylene species that inserts into an ortho-CH bond of the phenyl substituents. The X-ray diffraction studies on single crystals of 6a,b and 7b reveal that the Si-Si bond distance in cyclotrisilanes depends significantly on the electronegativity of the opposing silicon atom's substituents, which is rationalized by density functional theory (DFT) calculations on model systems.

The characteristic features of bulk silicon surfaces are echoed in the related partially substituted—and thus unsaturated—neutral silicon clusters (siliconoids). The incorporation of siliconoids into more‐extended frameworks is promising owing to their unique electronic features, but further developments in this regard are limited by the notable absence of functionalized siliconoid derivatives until now. Herein we report the isolation and full characterization of the lithium salt of an anionic R5Si6‐siliconoid, thus providing the missing link between silicon‐based Zintl anions and siliconoid clusters. Proof‐of‐principle for the high potential of this species for the efficient transfer of the intact unsaturated R5Si6 moiety is demonstrated by clean reactions with representative electrophiles of Groups 13, 14, and 15.

The treatment of disilenide Tip2SiSi(Tip)Li (1, Tip = 2,4,6-iPr3C6H2) with P-chloro phosphines affords the phosphino disilenes (2a-d; a: R = Ph, b: R = iPr, c: R = Cy, d: R = tBu), which were characterised by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy for 2a-d and a single crystal X-ray diffraction study in case of 2c. As an alternate synthetic method, the diphenyl derivative 2a could also be prepared by reaction of LiPPh2 with the thermally unstable iododisilene, Tip2SiSi(Tip)I (3), which in turn was obtained by oxidation of 1 with stoichiometric amounts of iodine. Providing the first example for a SiSi bond with an iodo functionality, disilene 3 was fully characterised by multinuclear NMR and X-ray diffraction. The thermal rearrangement of phosphine disilene 2avia a C–H insertion reaction yields the diastereomeric mixture of a 1-phospha-2,3-disilaindane 4. The structure of the cis-diastereomer of 4 was determined by X-ray diffraction. Finally, the synthesis of first transition metal complex of 2a and 2b by their coordination to the [Pd(PCy3)] fragment is reported. The solid state structure of complex 5a reveals η2-coordination of the SiSi bond of the phosphino disilene 2a with an intermediate bonding mode between π-complex and metallacyclopropane rather than coordination of the phosphino group.

SiSi activation: Reversible formation of a donor–acceptor complex between an N‐heterocyclic carbene and a cyclotrisilene with carbon‐based substituents shifts the electron density of the double bond and thus induces strong polarization, as shown by the significantly pyramidal tricoordinate silicon atom.

The aromaticity of the ring and cage isomer of a hexasilabenzene derivative was investigated by experimentally determined charge‐density distribution. Topological analysis and valence‐shell charge concentrations reflect the degree of delocalization in the various bonds. A transannular Si0–SiI bond was found in the ring conformer, while an interstitial Si0–Si0 bond along the hub in the silapropellane moiety of the cage conformer was not detected.