Cyclic polysilanes : VIII. The crystal structure of 1,2,3,4-tetra-tert-butyl-tetramethylcyclotetrasilane

The crystal structure of Si(CH₃)(t-C₄H₉)]₄ has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystals are tetragonal, P4₂/n; a = b = 13.069(4), c = 7.880(2) Å, Z = 2. The structure was determined using 745 independent data and refined with anisotropic least-squares to a final unweighted R-value of 3.5%. Each tetrameric molecule was found to be arranged about a $\text{4}$ axis, with the independent crystallographic unit comprising one silicon atom, one methyl and one tert-butyl group. The four-membered ring of silicon atoms is nonplanar with an unusually large dihedral angle of 36.8°. The principal mean bond lengths are SiSi 2.377(1), SiC(methyl) 1.893(4), SiC(tert-butyl) 1.918(3) Å, and the SiSiSi bond angle is 86.99°. The SiSi bond length is somewhat longer than in other polysilanes.