Chlorosilanes are versatile reagents in organic synthesis and material science. A mild pathway is now reported for the quantitative conversion of hydrosilanes to silyl chlorides under visible-light irradiation using neutral eosin Y as a hydrogen-atom-transfer photocatalyst and dichloromethane as a chlorinating agent. Stepwise chlorination of di- and trihydrosilanes was achieved in a highly selective fashion assisted by continuous-flow micro-tubing reactors. The ability to access silyl radicals using photocatalytic Si-H activation promoted by eosin Y offers new perspectives for the synthesis of valuable silicon reagents in a convenient and green manner.
Keywords: Si−H activation; dichloromethane; hydrogen atom transfer; neutral eosin Y; silyl chloride.
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