Desilylative Coupling Involving C(sp(2))-Si Bond Cleavage on Metal Surfaces

Desilylative coupling involving C-Si bond cleavage has emerged as one of the most important synthetic strategies for carbon-carbon/heteroatom bond formation in solution chemistry. However, in on-surface chemistry, C-Si bond cleavage remains asynthetic challenge. Here, we report the implementation of C(sp2)-Si bond cleavage and subsequent C-C bond formation on metal surfaces. The combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory calculation successfully reveals that the incorporation of the C-Br group on the arylsilanes is critical to the success of this desilylative coupling reaction on metal surfaces. Our study represents a promising approach for the removal of protecting silyl groups in on-surface chemistry.