A new exploration of the addition reaction of the silylenoid H2SiLiF with ethylene

The addition reactions of the simplest silylenoid H2SiLiF with ethylene were studied theoretically. The geometries of the stationary points along the potential energy surfaces were optimized using DFT B3LYP method with the 6-311+G(d,p) basis set, and the single point energies were calculated at QCISD/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. The theoretical calculations demonstrated that the addition reaction of H2SiLiF and C2H4 can occur through two different pathways. One is path A via a three-membered ring transition state, the other is path B, while through a four-membered ring transition state. The calculated energy barriers of path A and path B are 58.90 and 248.08 kJ∙mol−1, respectively. Therefore, pathway A is more favorable than pathway B. The solvent effect on the addition reactions were investigated using the PCM model, and the calculated results indicated that in the THF solvent, the addition reaction is much easier than that in vacuum. The present work provided a new pathway to synthesize silicon heterocyclic compounds.