NHC-catalyzed dehydrogenative self-coupling of diphenylsilane: a facile synthesis of octaphenylcyclotetra(siloxane)

A unique application of the CuIPr N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) to the dehydrogenative self-coupling of diphenylsilane has been discovered. This transformation is carried out open to air at room temperature, yielding octaphenylcyclotetra(siloxane) quantitatively in 1 h. This preparation constitutes a significant improvement over existing methods for the preparation of this compound and demonstrates a novel mode of reactivity for CuIPr. The diphenylsilanone tetramer is the precursor to a number of industrially significant polymers.