A new reaction mode of germanium-silicon bond formation: insertion reactions of H₂GeLiF with SiH₃X (X = F, Cl, Br).

A combined density functional and ab initio quantum chemical study of the insertion reactions of the germylenoid H2GeLiF with SiH3X (X = F, Cl, Br) was carried out. The geometries of all the stationary points of the reactions were optimized using the DFT B3LYP method and then the QCISD method was used to calculate the single-point energies. The theoretical calculations indicated that along the potential energy surface, there were one precursor complex (Q), one transition state (TS), and one intermediate (IM) which connected the reactants and the products. The calculated barrier heights relative to the respective precursors are 102.26 (X = F), 95.28 (X = Cl), and 84.42 (X = Br) kJ mol(-1) for the three different insertion reactions, respectively, indicating the insertion reactions should occur easily according to the following order: SiH3-Br > SiH3-Cl > SiH3-F under the same situation. The solvent effects on the insertion reactions were also calculated and it was found that the larger the dielectric constant, the easier the insertion reactions. The elucidations of the mechanism of these insertion reactions provided a new reaction model of germanium-silicon bond formation.