Harnessing Electrochemistry for Direct Deoxygenative Silylation of Alcohols and Ketones

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2025 Sep 26;64(40):e202509411. doi: 10.1002/anie.202509411. Epub 2025 Jun 23.

Abstract

Alcohols and ketones are abundant and structurally diverse feedstocks, yet their direct transformation into organosilicon compounds remains challenging due to the difficulty in selective cleaving C─OH and C═O bonds. Here, we report an electrochemically driven deoxygenative C─Si bond formation strategy that converts alcohols and ketones directly to organosilicon compounds. The reactions operate under mild conditions without external redox reagents and sacrificial electrodes. A wide range of alcohols, including primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols, as well as ketones, are efficiently converted to the corresponding organosilane products. Overall, this study provides a step-economical, highly efficient, and synthetically versatile platform for the direct conversion of feedstock chemicals into valuable organosilicon compounds.

Keywords: Alcohol; Deoxygenation; Electrochemistry; Ketone; Silylation.