Precise Determination of Stabilities of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Silicenium Ions from Kinetics and Equilibria of Hydride-Transfer Reactions in the Gas Phase. A Quantitative Comparison of the Stabilities of Silicenium and Carbonium Ions in the Gas Phase

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00185a017

Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance spectroscopy has been used to examine kinetics and equilibria of hydride-transfer reactions of methyl-substituted silanes with various hydrocarbons having well-established gas-phase hydride affinities.The derived hydride affinities, D(R3Si(1+)-H(1-)), for the silicenium ions SiMeH2(1+), SiMe2H(1+), and SiMe3(1+) are 245.9, 230.1, and 220.5 kcal/mol, respectively, to be compared with the values of 270.5, 251.5, and 233.6 kcal/mol for the corresponding carbonium ions.This indicates that the silicenium ions are significantly more stable than the corresponding carbonium ions in the gas phase with H(1-) as a reference base.