Anti-Selective Carbosilylation: Nickel-Catalyzed Multicomponent Reaction of Solid Me₃SiZnI

The stereodefined and highly substituted vinylsilanes are essential building blocks for constructing complex organic molecules. Transition metal-mediated silylmetalation of alkynes was developed to overcome the limitations of conventional hydrosilylations; however, a very limited study was carried out to utilize transient vinylmetal species in cross-coupling reactions. Moreover, they produce syn-adduct, and the anti-selective cross-coupling is still unknown and highly desired. Silylzinc reagents are highly functional group tolerant, however, their synthesis from pyrophoric silyllithium and dissolved lithium salts hampers cross-coupling reactions. Our novel solid silylzinc reagents circumvent these constraints are employed in the anti-selective synthesis of vinylsilanes via a multi-component reaction involving Me₃SiZnI, terminal alkynes, and activated alkyl halides. An intensive computational and experimental investigation of the mechanism reveals an equilibrium between the intermediate syn- and anti-adducts; the greater barrier at the single electron reduction of alkyl halides and the thermodynamic stability of the Ni(III) adduct determine the anti-selectivity.