DFT, NBO, and NRT analysis of alkyl and benzyl β-silyl substituted cations: carbenium ion vs. silylium ion

Abstract

The effect of β-trimethylsilyl (TMS) substituent on the structure, stability, natural charges, electrostatic potential map, natural bond orders, rotational energy barrier, and hyperconjugative interactions of five acyclic β-silyl carbocation derivatives of RR′C+–CH2Si(Me)3 including α-dimethyl 1 (R,R′ = Me), α-methyl phenyl 2 (R = Me, R′ = Ph), α-methyl para-aminophenyl 3 (R = Me, R′ = p-NH2Ph), α-methyl para-nitrophenyl 4 (R = Me, R′ = p-NO2Ph) and diphenyl 5 (R,R′ = Ph) was investigated in the gas phase and in solution using polarized continuum model (PCM) at B3LYP/6-311 ++G** level of theory. The resonance structures weighting of cations 1–5 were determined using natural resonance theory (NRT). The contribution of carbenium ion (RR′C+–CH2Si(Me)3) and silylium ion (RR′C=CH2 Si(Me)3+) to the stability depend upon substituents. The former form dominants when R,R′ = Ph, but the latter is major the contributor when R,R′ = Me. The weighting of carbocation forms of β-silyl benzyl cation overwhelms silylium cation due to the delocalization of positive charge on the phenyl ring. The calculated molecular orbital (MO) diagrams, energy decomposition analysis (EDA) and 29Si and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shifts complement these predictions.