Generation and reactions of an overcrowded diaryldilithiosilane

Exhaustive reduction of dibromo(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)(2,4,6-tris[bis(trime thylsilyl)methyl]ph )silane with excess amount of lithium naphthalenide (mo re than 4 molar amounts) in tetrahydrofuran at -78 degrees C gave the corre sponding dilithiosilane, the effective formation of which was confirmed by the trapping experiments with a variety of electrophiles. The diaryl-dilith iosilane thus generated was found to be stable at -78 degrees C but undergo an intramolecular proton abstraction to give the lithium-migrated dilithio silane.(1).