Dehydrocoupling reactions of amines with silanes catalyzed by [(Et2N)3U][BPh4]

Dehydrocoupling reactions of primary amines RNH₂ with PhSiH₃ were catalyzed by [(Et₂N)₃U][BPh₄] to give the corresponding aminosilanes PhSiH_3−n(NHR)_n (n=1–3), the relative yields of the products were found to be dependent on the experimental conditions and on the nature of R. For a primary silane (PhSiH₃), the reactivity of RNH₂ follows the order primary>secondary>tertiary. Similar dehydrocoupling reactions using secondary amines with secondary silanes were found to be less reactive. Homodehydrocoupling of the silane was found not to be a competing reaction at room temperature. The hydride [(RNH)₂UH][BPh₄], which is plausibly formed in the reaction of [(RNH)₃U][BPh₄] with PhSiH₃ is a likely intermediate in the catalytic cycle.