The silaamidide anion of 2 reacts rapidly with HBr and tBuOH. Since silylamines are prone to cleavage by strong acids, Ph,PHBr was utilized as a gentle source of HBr.[@ It reacts with 2 in solution over several hours at room temperature, protonating one nitrogen atom and adding across the double bond of the silaamidine to afford 5. Chlorosilane 1 does not react under these conditions. Compound 2 reacts with tBuOH to yield 6. Addition of nBuLi to 2 followed by quenching with water gives 7, presumably by addition of nBuLi across an S i E N bond to form the dianion, which is then protonated. R = 2,4,6-tBu,C,H, Ph 2 Ph 3 L J 4in which the lithium cation is coordinated to two N atoms of silaamide and to one molecule of diethyl ether. Ether may be reversibly removed from 2 by heating at 160 " C for several hours under vacuum to give the ether-free silaamidide salt 3.Addition of [I 51crown-5 to a benzene solution of 2 yields the salt 4 in the form of large yellow benzene-containing crystals. The lithium cation is no longer coordinated to the two N atoms, and the crystals lose benzene on exposure to X-rays and become a powder that cannot be fully characterized. The silaamidide salts are thermally stable but decompose rapidly upon exposure to atmospheric moisture or oxygen. Angen. Chem. In(. Ed. Engl. 29 (1990) No. 5 Q VCH Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 0-6940 Weinheim, 1990 0570-0833/90/0505-0531 8 02.50/0