On the regioselectivity of alkylation of the (trimethylsilyl)tetramethylcyclopentadienide anion. A new approach to the synthesis of 1,2,3,4-tetramethylfulvene

The regioselectivity of alkylation of lithium (trimethylsilyl)tetramethylcyclopentadienide C₅Me₄SiMe₃⁻Li⁺ was studied by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy using its reactions with MeI, MeOTs, ClCH₂CH₂Br, and ClCH₂CH₂I in different solvents as representative examples. Sterically non-hindered MeI and MeOTs presumably attack the C atom bonded to the silyl group giving 1,2,3,4,5-pentamethylcyclopentadienylsilane. For bulkier alkyl halides, such as ClCH₂CH₂Br and ClCH₂CH₂I, the regioselectivity of alkylation changes to form preferentially gem-dialkyl-substituted cyclopentadienes. The reaction of C₅Me₄SiMe₃⁻Li⁺ with formaldehyde affords 1,2,3,4-tetramethylfulvene in a high yield, providing an alternative synthetic approach to a number of ω-functionalized peralkylated cyclopentadienes. The quantum-chemical calculations of the C₅Me₄SiMe₃⁻ anion by the RHF and DFT (RMPW1PW91) methods in the valence-split 6-311+G(d,p) basis set are in good agreement with the experimental data.__________Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 2089–2093, October, 2004.