Substituent effects in second row molecules : Silicon-containing compounds

Substituent interaction energies are calculated by ab initio molecular orbital methods for the two series SiH₂X^- and SiH₃X for the directly bound substituents X = BH₂, CH₃, NH₂, OH, F and the results compared with those for the corresponding first row species. Interactions with the groups NH₂, OH, F are as large in the neutral as in the anionic series and this is attributed to the presence of important π-bonding interactions, supplementing the effects of inductive withdrawal of σ-electrons. The restoration of charge neutrality by π-donation to silicon is more important in the neutral molecules, σ-electron transfer from silicon in the anions. π-Bonding with the π-acceptor substitutent BH₂ is favourable, as it is in the CH₃X and CH₂X^- systems, but with π-donor substituents the interactions are always destabilizing.