Selective synthesis of fluoro-, fluorohydro-, and chlorofluorosilanes from hydrosilanes with the use of a CuCl2(CuI)/KF reagent

A selective synthesis of fluoro-, fluorohydro-, and chlorofluorosilanes from hydrosilanes has been examined. The reaction of Me(2)PhSiH and MePh(2)SiH with a mixture consisting of 2 equiv of CuCl2, 1 equiv of KF, and a catalytic amount of CuI in THF at room temperature afforded Me(2)PhSiF and MePh(2)SiF in high yields, respectively. With slight modification of this reaction, n-Hex(2)SiHF, Ph(2)SiHF, MeMesSiHF, MePhSiHF, PhSiH(2)F, and PhSiHF(2) could be readily prepared from the corresponding polyhydrosilanes selectively in high yields. Treatment of MePhSiHF and Ph(2)SiHF with 2 equiv of CuCl2 in the presence of a catalytic amount of CuI afforded the respective chlorofluorosilanes, MePhSiClF and Ph(2)SiClF.