Silicon(II) Bis(trimethylsilyl)amide (LSiN(SiMe₃)₂, L = PhC(N<i>t</i>Bu)₂) Supported Copper, Silver, and Gold Complexes

The reactions of silicon­(II) bis­(trimethylsilyl)­amide (1; LSiN­(SiMe3)2, L = PhC­(NtBu)2) with the readily available CuI, AgOTf (Tf = SO2CF3), AgNO3, and AuCl­(SMe2) have been reported, which resulted in a series of silylene–coinage-metal complexes (2–5) with Si­(II)→coinage-metal bonds. Each compound has been characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, elemental analysis, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. X-ray analyses of 2 and 3 showed that they are dimeric in nature, featuring four-membered Cu2I2 and Ag2O2 rings, respectively. However, 4 and 5 are mononuclear complexes with a silylene ligand and possess only one SiII→Ag or SiII→Au bond, respectively. Prior to our contribution, there have been very few structurally authenticated silylene–silver and silylene–gold complexes known. Therefore, 2–5 are noteworthy additions to the Si­(II)–coinage-metal complexes.