Catalytic Hydrosilylation of Alkenes by Iron Complexes Containing Terpyridine Derivatives as Ancillary Ligands

Iron complexes formulated as Fe(terpy)X2 (terpy = 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine derivatives; X = Cl, Br) were prepared and their catalytic activities for hydrosilylation of olefin with hydrosilane were examined. Although Fe(terpy)X2 did not show catalytic activity, the treatment of Fe(terpy)X2 with NaHBEt3 caused catalytic activity. The influence of substituents in terpy on the catalytic activity was examined, and it was found that some complexes with an unsymmetrically disubstituted terpy selectively produced 1-silylalkane with quite high catalytic activity. In the reaction of 1-octene with PhSiH3, the double-hydrosilylation product Ph(1-octyl)2SiH was selectively obtained.