Iridium‐Catalyzed Hydrogen Production from Hydrosilanes and Water

The iridium(III) complex [Ir(H)(CF3SO3)(NSiN)(coe)] (NSiN=fac‐coordinated bis(pyridine‐2‐yloxy)methylsilyl, coe=cyclooctene) has been proven to be an effective catalyst precursor for hydrogen production from the hydrolysis of hydrosilanes at room temperature. The reaction performance depends both on the nature of the silane and the solvent. Interestingly, high turnover frequencies of around 105 h−1 were obtained by using Et2SiH2 or (Me2HSi)2O as hydrogen sources and THF as the solvent. Moreover a mechanistic insight into this Ir‐catalyzed hydrogen generation process, based on both theoretical calculations and NMR spectroscopy, is reported. The overall catalytic cycle can be viewed as a two‐stage process that involves water‐promoted SiH bond activation followed by water splitting by a proton transfer.