Titanium-Catalyzed Dehydrocoupling of Silanes: Direct Conversion of Primary Monosilanes to Titanium(0) Oligosilane Complexes with Agostic α-Si-H···Ti Interactions

Synthesis and catalytic activity of well-defined Co(I) complexes based on NHC-phosphane pincer ligands

A new methodology for the preparation of Co(I)-NHC (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene) complexes, namely, [Co(PCNHCP)(CO)2][Co(CO)4] (1) and [Co(PCNHCP)(CO)2]BF4 (2), has been developed (PCNHCP = 1,3-bis(2-(diphenylphosphanyl)ethyl)-imidazol-2-ylidene). Both complexes can be straightforwardly prepared by direct reaction of their parent imidazolium salts with the Co(0) complex Co2(CO)8. Complex 1 efficiently catalyses the reductive amination of furfural and levulinic acid employing silanes as reducing agents under mild conditions. Furfural has been converted into a variety of secondary and tertiary amines employing dimethyl carbonate as the solvent, while levulinic acid has been converted into pyrrolidines under solventless conditions. Dehydrocoupling of the silane to give polysilanes has been observed to occur as a side reaction of the hydrosilylation process.

Si-H Bond Activation and Dehydrogenative Coupling of Silanes across the Iron-Amide Bond of a Bis(amido)bis(phosphine) Iron(II) Complex

Despite the utility of Si-Si bonds, there are relatively few examples of Si-Si bond formation by base metals. In this work, a four-coordinate iron complex, (PNNP)Fe^II, is shown to strongly activate the Si-H bonds in primary silanes across the Fe-amide bonds in a metal-ligand cooperative fashion. Upon treatment with excess silane, Si-Si dehydrogenative homocoupling is shown to occur across the Fe-N_amide bond without concomitant oxidation and spin state changes at the Fe center.

Regiocontrol in the cobalt-catalyzed hydrosilylation of alkynes

A highly versatile cobalt-catalyzed hydrosilylations of alkynes is reported. Near-perfect regiocontrol/stereocontrol was induced by the choice of the ligand: bidentate phosphines afforded (E)-β-vinylsilanes; α-vinylsilanes formed with bipyridine ligands.

Hydrofunctionalizations of unsaturated hydrocarbons are key strategies for the synthesis of functionalized building blocks. Here, we report highly versatile cobalt-catalyzed hydrosilylations of alkynes that operate with minute amounts of the inexpensive, bench-stable pre-catalyst Co(OAc)₂·4H₂O under mild conditions (0.1–1 mol%, THF, r.t., 1 h). Near-perfect regiocontrol/stereocontrol was induced by the choice of the ligand: bidentate phosphines afforded (E)-β-vinylsilanes; α-vinylsilanes formed with bipyridine ligands.

Multiple coupling of silanes with imido complexes of Mo

The bis(imido) complexes ((t)BuN[double bond, length as m-dash])2Mo(PMe3)(L) (L = PMe3, C2H4) react with up to three equivalents of silane PhSiH3 to give the imido-bridged disilyl silyl Mo(vi) complex ((t)BuN){μ-(t)BuN(SiHPh)2}Mo(H)(SiH2Ph)(PMe3)2 (3) studied by NMR, IR and X-ray diffraction. NMR data supported by DFT calculations show that complex 3 is an unusual example of a silyl hydride of Mo(VI), without significant SiH interaction. Mechanistic NMR studies revealed that silane addition proceeds in a stepwise manner via a series of Si-H∙∙∙M agostic and silanimine complexes whose structures were further elucidated by DFT calculations.