Oxidative addition of Si–Cl bonds to electron-rich Ir I complexes

Si–Cl bonds undergo facile, rarely observed oxidative addition to (C8H14)Ir(PMe3)3Cl (1) to yield, when MeSiCl3 is used, the crystallographically characterized mer-Ir(PMe3)3(Cl)2(SiMeCl2), exhibiting a short Ir–Si bond; reaction of (1) and of other electron-rich IrI complexes with Me3SiCl yields Ir–H complexes, probably arising from a rare silyl β-hydride elimination process.