ISOMERIZATION OF SILYLENES - RESOLUTION OF DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN COMPUTER MODELING AND EXPERIMENT

It has recently become clear that some early conclusions about the mechanism of isomerization of silylenes were inconsistent with experiment. This paper demonstrates that these inconsistencies are eliminated by taking account of developments in the thermochemistry of organosilicon compounds and of the recent evidence, of considerable general significance in organosilicon chemistry, that the energy barrier for ring closure of long-chain silylenes to form three-membered rings is remarkably low.