Application of Bulky NHC-Rhodium Complexes in Efficient S-Si and S-S Bond Forming Reactions.

The efficient and straightforward syntheses of silylthioethers and disulfides are presented. The synthetic methodologies are based on new rhodium complexes containing bulky N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands that turned out to be efficient catalysts in thiol and thiol-silane coupling reactions. These green protocols, which use easily accessible reagents, allow obtaining compounds containing S-Si and S-S bonds in solvent-free conditions. Additionally, preliminary tests on coupling of mono- and octahydro-substituted spherosilicates with selected thiols have proved to be very promising and showed that these catalytic systems can be used for the synthesis of a novel class of functionalized silsesquioxane derivatives.