Atomic silicon in siloxanic networks: the nature of the oxo-oxygen-silicon bond

The existence of atomic silicon cryptates in siloxanic networks has been studied theoretically via density functional calculations. By modeling with model molecules the candidate sites to host atomic silicon, we found that metastable adducts can be formed only in regions where the siloxanic network is not subjected to steric constraints; stationary states are instead unstable in highly reticulated siloxanic networks. The nature of the oxo-oxygen-silicon bond at the SiO2 surface is analyzed in detail. It is concluded that silicon is kept at the surface in atomic-like configuration by (i) sigma charge donation from oxo-oxygen atoms into the empty silicon psigma orbital; (ii) pi charge back-donation from singly occupied silicon 3ppi orbitals into empty sigma* model molecule orbitals. Surprisingly, these results attribute to atomic silicon the character of bifunctional Lewis acid.