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Updated: Nov 3, 2025

Imine Metathesis by Silica-Supported Catalysts Using the Methodology of Surface Organometallic Chemistry
Published on: October 18, 2019
An air-stable, Zn2+-based catalyst for hydrosilylation of alkenes and alkynes
Kristina Groutchik1, Kuldeep Jaiswal1, Roman Dobrovetsky1
1School of Chemistry, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. rdobrove@tau.ac.il.
Abstract:
Hydrosilylation of C[double bond, length as m-dash]C double and C[triple bond, length as m-dash]C triple bonds is one of the most widely used processes in organosilicon chemistry, mostly catalyzed by Pt-based complexes. We report here the synthesis of an air-stable dicationic Zn2+-based complex in a hemilabile tris(2-methyl-6-pyridylmethyl) phosphine (TmPPh) ligand, 12+[B(C6F5)4]2. When heated, 12+[B(C6F5)4]2 activates Si-H bonds reversibly via ligand/metal cooperation between Lewis acidic Zn2+ and Lewis basic N centers in a frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) type fashion. Consequently, 12+[B(C6F5)4]2 was found to be an effective catalyst for hydrosilylation reactions of C[double bond, length as m-dash]C double and C[triple bond, length as m-dash]C triple bonds. Remarkably, these hydrosilylation reactions can be loaded under aerobic conditions, as well as, in some cases, work under neat conditions. The mechanism of the activation of the Si-H bond and the hydrosilylation reaction is proposed based on experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations.
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