Electronic interactions in 1-ethynyl-2-phenyltetramethyldisilanes HCCSiMe2SiMe2C6H4X

1-Ethynyl-2-phenyltetramethyldisilanes HCCSiMe₂SiMe₂C₆H₄X X = NMe₂ (1), H (2), CH₃ (3), Br (4), CF₃ (5)] are accessible from ClSiMe₂SiMe₂Cl, BrMgC₆H₄X and HCCMgBr in a two step Grignard reaction. The crystal structure of 1 as determined by single crystal X-ray crystallography exhibits a nearly planar PhNMe₂ moiety and an unusual gauche array of the phenyl and the acetylene group with respect to rotation around the Si-Si bond. Full geometry optimization (B3LYP/6-31+G^∗∗) of the gas phase structures of 1-5 affords minima for the gauche and the anti rotational isomers, both being very close in energy with a rotational barrier of only 3-5 kJ/mol. Experimental and calculated (time-dependent DFT B3LYP/TZVP) UV absorption data of 1-5 show pronounced electronic interactions of the HCC- and the C₆H₄X π-systems with the central Si-Si bond.