Preparation and reactivity of an O,O-chelating silsesquioxane–palladium complex

An incompletely condensed silsesquioxane containing trisilanol (c-C5H9)7Si7O9(OH)3 reacts with [PdI2(bpy)] (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) in the presence of Ag2O to produce a palladium complex with an O,O-chelating silsesquioxanate ligand, [Pd{O11Si7(c-C5H9)7(OH)}(bpy)] (1). The reaction of Ph2SiClH with 1 in 2:1 ratio causes disilylations of the silsesquioxanate ligand, forming [PdCl2(bpy)]. Addition of p-cresol to a solution of 1 yields the trisilanol and [Pd(OC6H4CH3-p)2(bpy)].