Photocatalytic Generations of Secondary and Tertiary Silyl Radicals from Silylboranes Using an Alkoxide Cocatalyst

Silyl radicals are valuable species to prepare diverse organosilicon compounds. However, unlike stable tertiary silyl radicals, the use of secondary silyl radicals has been problematic in silylation reactions due to their instability. Here, we present photocatalytic in situ generations of both secondary and tertiary silyl radicals by one-electron oxidation of ate complexes, formed from silylboranes and an alkoxide cocatalyst, achieving highly efficient hydrosilylation and deuterosilylation of electron-rich alkenes and dienes as well as electron-deficient alkenes. The theoretical studies show that anionic borate complexes activated with an alkoxide have lower oxidation potentials than neutral borate complexes, allowing the formation of secondary silyl radicals. The calculated reaction pathways reveal that anionic conditions using the conjugate acid–base pair of NaOEt (cocatalyst) and EtOH (solvent) are the key to expanding the scope of silyl radicals and alkenes.