Synthesis of five- and six-coordinate tris(pentafluoroethyl)fluorosilicates.

The research area of perfluoroalkylsilanes is still in its infancy. Although there are already many examples of difluorotriorganylsilicates, the first example of a completely characterized trifluorotriorganylsilicate is presented, the dianion Si(C2 F5 )3 F3 . The strongly electron-withdrawing influence of the pentafluoroethyl groups appears to be a fundamental cause of the stability of this compound. This dianion is also the first structurally characterized example of a tris(pentafluoroethyl)silicon compound. The synthesis and complete characterization of [PPh4 ]2 [Si(C2 F5 )3 F3 ] and [PPh4 ][Si(C2 F5 )3 F2 ] along with the precursor [H(OEt2 )2 ][Si(C2 F5 )3 F2 ] was achieved from SiCl4 and LiC2 F5 .