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.