Catechol‐Mediated Redox‐Neutral One‐pot Transformation of SiO₂ into SiPh₄

Organosilanes range among the most important products in chemical industries. Unfortunately, their bulk production starting from silicon oxides has a substantial ecological footprint due to immense energy consumption and numerous hazardous by-products imposed by redox cycling between Si(0) Si(IV). Herein, we report first redox-neutral, one-pot silicon−carbon bond formation silica gel combining catechol-mediated SiO2 depolymerization nucleophilic substitution of tris(catecholato)silicate dianion intermediates. Screening optimization individual steps enables 76 % yield SiPh4 on preparative scale. Non-rationalizable effects solvents, nucleophiles, countercations are identified, rendering suitable for statistical approaches such as “design-of-experiments” future studies. The general success process encourages search more energy- waste-effective organosilane production.