Conformational Preferences of the Phenyl Group in 1-Phenyl-1-X-1-silacyclo-hexanes (X = MeO, HO) and 3-Phenyl-3-X-3-silatetrahydropyrans (X = HO, H) by Low Temperature C NMR Spectroscopy and Theoretical Calculations.

New Si-phenyl-substituted silacyclohexanes and 3-silatetrahydropyrans have been synthesized and studied with respect to the conformational equilibria of the heterosix-membered ring by low temperature C NMR spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. For 1-methoxy-1-phenylsilacyclohexane 1 and 3-phenyl-3-silatetrahydropyran 4 the conformational equilibria could be frozen and assigned. The Ph ⇆ Ph equilibrium constants at 103 K are 2.21 for 1 and 4.59 for 4. In complete agreement with former studies of similar silicon compounds, molecules 1 and 4 prefer to adopt the Ph conformation. The conformational equilibria of 1-hydroxy-1-phenylsilacyclohexane 2 and 3-hydroxy-3-phenyl-3-silatetrahydropyran 3 could not be frozen at 100 K and proved to be heavily one-sided (if not anancomeric). Obviously, there is a general trend of predominance of Ph conformer in the gas phase and of Ph in solution. For the isolated molecules of silanols 2 and 3, calculations allowed to explain the axial predominance of the phenyl group by a larger polarization of the Si-Ph than of the Si-O bond in the Ph conformer and additional destabilization of 3-Ph conformer by repulsion of unidirectional dipoles of the endocyclic oxygen lone pair and of the highly polar axial Si-O bond.