Abstract: The origin of the remarkably facile configurational isomerization of 1-silyl-1- metalloalkenes was investigated by using 1-(trimethylsily1)-I-lithio-I-octene (5) as a representative example. Of seven mechanisms considered, those involving disproportionation via metal-metal exchange (mechanism I), addition-elimination (mechanism 11), simple ionization of the Li-C bond (mechanism 111), and polarization of ...
