Do aromatic transition states lower barriers to silatropic shifts? A synthetic, NMR spectroscopic, and computational study

In a previous calculational study at the semi-empirical unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF) level of theory, we predicted that strategically incorporating an aromatic ring onto indenyltrimethylsilane would lower the barrier for [1,5]-silatropic shifts around the five-membered ring through retention of aromatic character in the transition state and in the intermediate iso-indene. We now report the synthesis and dynamic behavior of the tricyclic …