Non‐Ionic Peterson‐Type Olefination Reactivity and its Use in a Silicon‐Promoted Carbonyl‐Carbonyl Cross Coupling Reaction

The [2+2] cycloaddition reaction between the Si=C double bond of adamantylsilene and the carbonyl group of aliphatic, aromatic or acetylenic ketones and aldehydes is demonstrated. The product of this reaction that is central to a non-ionic version of the Peterson olefination is an unusual four-membered 1,2-silaoxetane heterocycle that was characterized spectroscopically and crystallographically. In the presence of SiO₂, the silaoxetane undergoes retro-cycloaddition with the formation of alkene products. As the [2+2] cycloaddition proceeds without the necessity of any base, enolizable ketones can be converted into olefins. In addition, it is shown that the adamantylsilene can be produced in situ by a sila-Peterson reaction, providing valuable input for the development of a new one-pot silicon-based reductive carbonyl-carbonyl cross coupling methodology.