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The concept of hypervalency in molecules, which hold more than eight valence electrons at the central atom, still is a topic of constant debate. There is general interest in silicon compounds with more than four substituents at the central silicon atom. The dispute, whether this silicon is hypervalent or highly coordinated, is enlightened by the first experimental charge density determination and subsequent topological analysis of three different highly polar Si-E (E = N, O, F) bonds in a hexacoordinated compound. The experiment reveals predominantly ionic bonding and much less covalent contribution than commonly anticipated. For comparison gas-phase ab initio calculations were performed on this compound. The results of the theoretical calculations underline the findings of the experiment.

Neutral hexacoordinate silicon complexes 1 undergo an equilibrium dissociation to ionic siliconium chlorides 6 at low temperatures in polar solvents:  chloroform, dichloromethane, and fluorodichloromethane. The extent of dissociation increases with decreasing temperature, despite the formation of two ions from each molecule. The reaction enthalpies and entropies for the ionizations are negative, and their absolute values increase with increasing solvent polarity, indicating that solvation of the ions drives the dissociation process. The position of the equilibrium is readily controlled by variation of solvent polarity, temperature, replacement of the chloro ligand by better leaving groups (triflate, bromide, or tetrachloroaluminate), and variation of substituents (R) or ligands (X). The results are supported by crystal structures of the siliconium salts:  8a,c,d and 14d.

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