Recent advances in the synthesis of chiral organosilanes via transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric reactions of silacyclobutanes
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Recent advances in the synthesis of chiral organosilanes via transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric reactions of silacyclobutanes

Jusong Yang
1,*
,
Ruiqiang Lu
1
,
Jixiang Li
1
,
Liuzhou Gao
1
,
Yidong Wang
1,2,*
*Correspondence to: Yidong Wang, School of Chemistry and Materials, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225002, Jiangsu China; Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Green & Functional Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Yangzhou 225002, Jiangsu, China. E-mail: wangyd021@yzu.edu.cn
Jusong Yang, School of Chemistry and Materials, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225002, Jiangsu, China. E-mail: yangjusong@yzu.edu.cn
Chiral Chem. 2027;3:202640. 10.70401/cc.2026.0045
Received: August 21, 2026Accepted: October 22, 2026Published: October 23, 2026
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This manuscript is made available in its unedited form to allow early access to the reported findings. Further editing will be completed before final publication. As such, the content may include errors, and standard legal disclaimers are applicable.

Abstract

Chiral organosilicon compounds are widely applied in frontier fields including synthetic chemistry, materials science, and pharmaceutical research. Thus, the design of green, operationally simple, and chemoselective strategies for the assembly of structurally sophisticated organosilicon frameworks is of paramount significance and continues to attract considerable attention. Silacyclobutanes (SCBs), a class of small-ring compounds with unique structural features, exhibit excellent reactivity due to their inherent ring strain. During the past decade, the transition-metal-catalyzed (Rh, Pd, Ni) regio- and enantioselective C–Si bond cleavage of silacyclobutanes has emerged as a powerful and complementary synthetic tool for accessing structurally diverse, functionalized chiral organosilanes. This review systematically surveys recent advances in transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric cleavage of C–Si bonds in silacyclobutanes with various coupling partners, such as alkenes, alkynes, allenes, and carbonyls, for the construction of chiral functionalized organosilanes featuring carbon-centered, silicon-centered, or axially chiral stereogenic units. We also briefly discuss the associated reaction mechanisms, strategic modulation of reactivity and enantioselectivity, and prospective developments.

Keywords

Transition-metal-catalyzed, asymmetric catalysis, silacyclobutanes, chiral silacycles, ring-expansion, ring-opening

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Yang J, Lu R, Li J, Gao L, Wang Y. Recent advances in the synthesis of chiral organosilanes via transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric reactions of silacyclobutanes. Chiral Chem. 2027;3:202640. https://doi.org/10.70401/cc.2026.0045

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