Electrophilic Activation of Silicon-Hydrogen Bonds in Catalytic Hydrosilations

Transition-Metal-Free Cleavage of CO

Tertiary silane 1H , 2-[(diphenylsilyl)methyl]-6-methylpyridine, reacts with tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (BCF) to form the intramolecular pyridine-stabilized silylium 1+ -HBCF. The corresponding 2-[(diphenylsilyl)methyl]pyridine, lacking the methyl-group on the pyridine ring, forms classic N(py)→B adduct 2H -BCF featuring an intact silane Si-H fragment. Complex 1+ -HBCF promotes cleavage of the C≡O triple bond in carbon monoxide with double C-Csp2 bond formation, leading to complex 3 featuring a B-(diarylmethyl)-B-aryl-boryloxysilane fragment. Reaction with pinacol generates bis(pentafluorophenyl)methane 4 as isolable product, proving the transition-metal-free deoxygenation of carbon monoxide by this main-group system. Experimental data and DFT calculations support the existence of an equilibrium between the silylium-hydroborate ion pair and the silane-borane mixture that is responsible for the observed reactivity.

Mechanism-Based Enantiodivergence in Manganese Reduction Catalysis: A Chiral Pincer Complex for the Highly Enantioselective Hydroboration of Ketones

A manganese alkyl complex containing a chiral bis(oxazolinyl-methylidene)isoindoline pincer ligand is a precatalyst for a catalytic system of unprecedented activity and selectivity in the enantioselective hydroboration of ketones, thus producing preparatively useful chiral alcohols in excellent yields with up to greater than 99 % ee. It is applicable for both aryl alkyl and dialkyl ketone reduction under mild reaction conditions (TOF >450 h^-1 at -40 °C). The earth-abundant base-metal catalyst operates at very low catalyst loadings (as low as 0.1 mol %) and with a high level of functional-group tolerance. There is evidence for the existence of two distinct mechanistic pathways for manganese-catalyzed hydride transfer and their role for enantiocontrol in the selectivity-determining step is presented.

Structural snapshots of concerted double E-H bond activation at a transition metal centre

Bond activation at a transition metal centre is a key fundamental step in numerous chemical transformations. The oxidative addition of element-hydrogen bonds, for example, represents a critical step in a range of widely applied catalytic processes. Despite this, experimental studies defining steps along the bond activation pathway are very rare. In this work, we report on fundamental studies defining a new oxidative activation pathway: combined experimental and computational approaches yield structural snapshots of the simultaneous activation of both bonds of a β-diketiminate-stabilized GaH₂ unit at a single metal centre. Systematic variation of the supporting phosphine ligands and single crystal X-ray/neutron diffraction are exploited in tandem to allow structural visualization of the activation process, from a η²-H,H σ-complex showing little Ga-H bond activation, through species of intermediate geometry featuring stretched Ga-H and compressed M-H/M-Ga bonds, to a fully activated metal dihydride featuring a neutral (carbene-type) N-heterocyclic Ga^I ligand.

Rapid Surface Functionalization of Hydrogen-Terminated Silicon by Alkyl Silanols

Surface functionalization of inorganic semiconductor substrates, particularly silicon, has focused attention toward many technologically important applications, involving photovoltaic energy, biosensing and catalysis. For such modification processes, oxide-free (H-terminated) silicon surfaces are highly required, and different chemical approaches have been described in the past decades. However, their reactivity is often poor, requiring long reaction times (2–18 h) or the use of UV light (10–30 min). Here, we report a simple and rapid surface functionalization for H-terminated Si(111) surfaces using alkyl silanols. This catalyst-free surface reaction is fast (15 min at room temperature) and can be accelerated with UV light irradiation, reducing the reaction time to 1–2 min. This grafting procedure leads to densely packed organic monolayers that are hydrolytically stable (even up to 30 days at pH 3 or 11) and can display excellent antifouling behavior against a range of organic polymers.

A family of rhodium and iridium complexes with semirigid benzylsilyl phosphines: from bidentate to tetradentate coordination modes

Rh and Ir coordination of phosphines with 1 to 3 Si–H groups.

Hydrogen autotransfer and related dehydrogenative coupling reactions using a rhenium(i) pincer catalyst

A novel rhenium complex bearing a non-innocent PNP pincer ligand was prepared.