Masahiro Murakami and colleagues at Kyoto University are interested in the synthesis of silole derivatives which possess unique photophysical and electronic properties. They have now developed a method to synthesise 3-allyl-1-silaindenes from alkynes having an allylsilane moiety by a gold-catalysed intramolecular trans-allylsilylation reaction. Benzosilole derivatives having various functional groups at the 2-position were synthesised. 

Murakami explains that 'siloles are members of an intriguing class of silicon-based p-conjugated molecules that exhibit electron-transporting and light-emitting properties.' They therefore have promising potential for electronic devices and synthetic methods that allow various functional groups to be added are sought. 

Murakami feels that future challenges in this area will be the 'cyclisation with other nucleophilic silanes, i.e., arylsilylation and alkenylsilylation' and 'extension to other heteroatom-containing aromatic systems such as borole.' 

Future directions will be in the 'development of silicon-based electronic materials' and 'chemistry of gold-catalyzed reactions of alkynes,' said Murakami. 

Kathryn Sear