Structure of bis(o-phenylenedioxy)dimethylsilane

The reaction of dichlorodimethylsilane with 1,2-dihydroxybenzene yielded bis(o-phenylenedioxy) dimethylsilane as a crystalline product. An X-ray diffraction study of this material showed that it adopts a dimeric structure. The configuration at the silicon atoms was approximately tetrahedral and the SiO bond lengths were 1.63 and 1.65 Å. The phenyl rings were in parallel planes separated by a distance of 0.83 Å.