Cleavage of Two Hydrogen Molecules by Boryldisilenes

Activation of H 2 by compounds of main‐group elements has received considerable attention. Herein, we report synthesis of novel monoboryl‐ and monoamino‐substituted disilenes and their characterization by a combination of NMR spectroscopy and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis. The monoboryldisilene reacts with two molecules of H 2 to provide the corresponding trihydridodisilane and hydroborane, whereas the aminodisilene does not react with H 2 under the same conditions. The present results together with our previous results indicate that the presence of the boryl‐substituent on the Si=Si double bond is essential to activate the H 2 molecule. The low lying empty 2p orbital on the boron atom that interacts effectively with the π*(Si=Si) orbital could be responsible for the activation of H 2 .