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Chemists made two small silicon oxide molecules—Si2O3 and Si2O4—by reacting carbene-stabilized disilicon with different oxidants. The molecules were isolated and structurally examined, but they were highly reactive: exposure to additional oxidant caused them to decompose. The result was a laboratory advance in molecular silicon chemistry, not a way to dissolve ordinary sand or a demonstrated manufacturing process.
How the silicon oxide molecules were made
In a 20 April 2015 report, Chemistry World described work by Gregory Robinson’s team at the University of Georgia. The team began with disilicon stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), a class of carbon-based molecules that can bind and stabilize reactive species. The report presents this carbene stabilization as the strategy that made the small silicon oxide molecules synthetically accessible.
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According to the report, the researchers added an oxidant to the stabilized disilicon in toluene at room temperature. Nitrous oxide yielded Si2O3; oxygen yielded Si2O4. These are molecular compounds containing two silicon atoms, not samples of bulk silica.
| Reported product | Oxidant | Reported central ring |
|---|---|---|
| Si2O3 | Nitrous oxide | Three-membered |
| Si2O4 | Oxygen | Four-membered |
The reaction conditions and product assignments above are those described in the Chemistry World account of Y. Wang and colleagues’ 2015 paper in Nature Chemistry (DOI: 10.1038/nchem.2234).
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What “longer-lived” means—and what it does not
The products were reactive rather than robust. Chemistry World reported that they decomposed immediately on exposure to additional oxidant. The team nevertheless isolated enough material for X-ray crystallography, and the report says structural calculations were also carried out. Those methods supported the reported structures, including the different ring sizes.
“Longer-lived” should therefore be read in the context of highly reactive molecular silicon oxides: the work made compounds that could be isolated and studied, not shelf-stable materials. The report does not provide a stability comparison between Si2O3 and Si2O4.
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Why these molecules are different from sand
Sand commonly contains silica, SiO2, in extended structures built from interconnected silicon–oxygen units. The reported Si2O3 and Si2O4 compounds are discrete molecules with two silicon atoms and distinct structures. Their preparation does not make ordinary sand soluble or turn bulk silica into a practical liquid material.
The significance is instead in controlling small, reactive silicon–oxygen species. The Chemistry World account describes the broader challenge of working with reactive silicon–oxygen bonding and low-oxidation-state silicon; carbene binding offered a route to isolate these particular molecules long enough for structural study.
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Potential applications remain proposals
Herbert Roesky of the University of Göttingen called the result “an amazing result which will have a number of applications in depositing SiO2 on surfaces of various materials.” That was his assessment at the time, not evidence that surface deposition had been demonstrated. Chemistry World also reported the possibility of transferring individual oxide units to surfaces as a prospective direction, rather than an established process.
Robinson said: “Utilizing this carbene-stabilisation strategy, molecular silicon oxide moieties are synthetically approachable.” He also suggested that “other highly reactive main group oxides may be synthetically approachable using this strategy.” These remarks describe the research’s potential scope; the reported work does not establish a commercial product or a practical deposition method.
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