A Highly Chemoselective Cobalt Catalyst for the Hydrosilylation of Alkenes using Tertiary Silanes and Hydrosiloxanes

The hydrosilylation of alkene substrates bearing additional functionalities is difficult to achieve using earth-abundant catalysts and has not been extensively realized with both earth-abundant transition metals and tertiary silanes or hydrosiloxanes. Reported herein is a well-defined bis(carbene) cobalt(I)-dinitrogen complex for the efficient, catalytic anti-Markovnikov hydrosilylation of terminal alkenes, featuring a broad substrate scope. Alkenes containing hydroxyl, amino, ester, epoxide, ketone, formyl, and nitrile groups are selectively hydrosilylated in this reaction sequence. Multinuclear NMR studies of reactive intermediates gave insights into the mechanism.