Isolation of Dinuclear (μ-Silylene)(silyl)nickel Complexes and Si−Si Bond Formation on a Dinuclear Nickel Framework

An eight-membered cyclic dimer of the hydrosilane 1 a is produced through dehydrogenative Si−Si bond formation during the reaction of 1 a with a nickel complex to give 2. A possible intermediate in this dehydrocoupling reaction is the dinuclear silyl(μ-silylene)nickel(III) complex 3, which could be isolated from the reaction of the analogous hydrosilane 1 b with [Ni(dmpe)2]. dmpe=1,2-bis(dimethylphosphanyl)ethane.