Fig. 1: Background and our strategy for the synthesis of functionalized silacyclobutanes.
From: Photo-induced ring-maintaining hydrosilylation of unactivated alkenes with hydrosilacyclobutanes
a Silacyclobutanes are important lynchpin intermediates for the synthesis of value-added organosilicon compounds through ring-opening and ring-expansion reactions. b Previous methods for the synthesis of silacyclobutanes relied on the nucleophilic substitution reactions with organometallic reactions and transition-metal catalyzed reductive coupling reactions, but they are not applicable in the synthesis of functionalized alkyl SCBs. c Previous photocatalytic radical hydrosilylation of alkenes was limited to linear hydrosilanes, and the radical hydrosilylation with hydrosilacyclobutanes is more challenging because of the labile C–Si bonds of the strained four-membered ring compounds. d This study: photo-induced metal-free radical hydrosilylation of alkenes with broad substrate scope and excellent functional group tolerance, in the absence of any redox-active photocatalyst.
