Photochemical Reaction of [(CO)4Co(SiEt3)] with Ethylene: Implications for Cobaltcarbonyl‐Catalyzed Hydrosilation of Alkenes

The insertion of a nonactivated alkene into the MSi bond of a catalytically active transition‐metal complex has been demonstrated for the first time. Furthermore, the formation of CH4 instead of SiMe4 in the reaction of [(CO)4CoMe] with Me3SiH is clearly inconsistent with the traditional Chalk–Harrod mechanism for the transition‐metal‐catalyzed hydrosilation of olefins. Both reactions are key steps in a new proposal for the mechanism of this reaction.