Formation of Cationic Silanols via Hydrolysis of Carbodiphosphorane-Stabilized Trichlorosilane

Silanols are important compounds in material science, the pharmaceutical industry, the field of catalysis, etc. Thus far, exclusively neutral, with a single anionic example, silicon compounds were examined as precursors to these Si-OH-containing species, as no reports illustrating the use of cationic analogues have been described. In this work, we initially prepared hexaphenylcarbodiphosphorane (CDP) stabilized trichlorosilane cation ([CDP-SiCl₃]⁺), followed by its reactivity studies in the presence of water and a base. Detection of numerous species during mass spectrometry studies and isolation/full characterization of several examples, including a cyclic dicationic trisilanol, was successfully achieved. These compounds represent the first examples of cationic silanols whose stability was also probed in the presence of different anions.