ABSTRACT
Silicon-containing organic compounds serve as key reagents in numerous, synthetically useful chemical reactions.
Perhaps the most common role played by these substances is as equivalents of allylic and enolate anions. For example, activation of allylsilanes using potent silophiles leads to the formation of silylate anions, which react with electrophilic reagents to yield products resulting from nucleophilic addition and substitution. In addition, when partnered with strong electrophiles, allylsilanes and enolsilanes undergo addition reactions proceeding via the intermediacy of
β
-silicon stabilized carbenium ions that readily transfer their silyl groups to even weakly silophilic substances.
