Highly Active and Selective Photocatalytic Oxidation of Organosilanes to Silanols
Huanhuan Li, Lei Chen, Peigao Duan, Wuyuan Zhang
Abstract
Silanols are ubiquitous building blocks for organic synthesis and material fabrication. To date, a number of stoichiometric and catalytic methods have been developed for the direct oxidation of Si–H to Si–OH bonds. A common challenge in the oxidation of silanes is to combine both catalytic activity and selectivity. Herein, we report a highly active and selective photocatalytic approach for the oxidation of organosilanes to silanols. Using plasmonic Au-TiO2 as a photocatalyst for dimethylphenylsilane oxidation enables complete conversion (>99% yield) and high selectivity (98.3%) with catalytic activity up to 121.8 g g–1. The observed activity substantially exceeds those of most reported homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. Silanol synthesis could be achieved under mild conditions in either aqueous or solvent-free conditions and allows the oxidation of a broad scope of sterically hindered hydrosilanes in excellent yield and selectivity. The general concept of photocatalytic synthesis of valuable silanols is further demonstrated by five photocatalysts.