Ring-closing metathesis of dialkenylcycloalkanes for the synthesis of fused bicycloalkanes and tricycloalkanes†

Ring-closing metathesis of dialkenyldisilacycloalkane using the Grubbs catalyst, followed by hydrogenation, afforded a mixture of two disilabicycloalkanes and tetrasilatricycloalkanes. This method can synthesize a diastereomer mixture of disilabicycloalkanes with one differing alkyl side chain. The observed symmetries of the NMR spectra of anti-bicycloalkanes depend significantly on the length of the side chain. The findings may contribute to the molecular design of functional bicycloalkanes based on structural transformations of the stable forms.