Transfer Hydrogenation of Vinyl Arenes and Aryl Acetylenes with Ammonia Borane Catalyzed by Schiff Base Cobalt(II) Complexes.

A series of bench-stable Co(II) complexes containing hydrazone Schiff base ligands were evaluated in terms of their activity and selectivity in carbon-carbon multiple bond transfer hydrogenation. These cobalt complexes, especially a Co(II) precatalyst bearing pyridine-2-yl-N(Me)N=C-(1-methyl)imidazole-2-yl ligand, activated by LiHBEt3, were successfully used in the transfer hydrogenation of substituted styrenes and phenylacetylenes with ammonia borane as a hydrogen source. Key advantages of the reported catalytic system include mild reaction conditions, high selectivity and tolerance to functional groups of substrates.

Mechanism of Silylation of Vinyl Arenes by Hydrodisiloxanes Driven by Stoichiometric Amounts of Sodium Triethylborohydride-A Combined DFT and Experimental Study.

The reactions of vinyl arenes with hydrodisiloxanes in the presence of sodium triethylborohydride were studied using experimental and computational methods. The expected hydrosilylation products were not detected because triethylborohydrides did not exhibit the catalytic activity observed in previous studies; instead, the product of formal silylation with dimethylsilane was identified, and triethylborohydride was consumed in stoichiometric amounts. In this article, the mechanism of the reaction is described in detail, with due consideration given to the conformational freedom of important intermediates and the two-dimensional curvature of the potential energy hypersurface cross sections. A simple way to reestablish the catalytic character of the transformation was identified and explained with reference to its mechanism. The reaction presented here is an example of the application of a simple transition-metal-free catalyst in the synthesis of silylation products, with flammable gaseous reagents replaced by a more convenient silane surrogate.

Hydrogermylation initiated by trialkylborohydrides: a living anionic mechanism.

Sodium trialkylborohydrides were found to be initiators of selective hydrogermylation of aromatic alkenes. Addition of phenylgermane and diphenylgermane in the presence of 10 mol% of NaHB(sec-Bu)3 proceeded in a highly selective manner to give - in contrast to the analogous hydrosilylation process - ß-germylated products. The nature of this process was explained with the aid of DFT calculations and it was proposed that the mechanism proceeds via a trisubstituted germanide anion whose attack on the terminal vinyl carbon is the source of selectivity.

Markovnikov-selective double hydrosilylation of challenging terminal aryl alkynes under cobalt and iron catalysis.

Geminal bis(silanes) are unique compounds with interesting properties. The most straightforward way to access them is double hydrosilylation of alkynes, which was established only recently. Previous articles about transition metal-catalysed double hydrosilylation show that terminal aryl alkynes are a challenge. We report on cobalt(II) and iron(III) complexes with the easy-to-synthesise N,N,N-tridentate hydrazone ligand being active precatalysts in Markovnikov-selective double hydrosilylation of terminal aryl alkynes. The influence of the hydrazone ligand structure and the potential role of the sodium triethylborohydride activator were studied. Sets of geminal bis(silanes) with two identical or different silyl groups were synthesised, showing the applicability of the reported method.

Inorganometallics (Transition Metal-Metalloid Complexes) and Catalysis.

While the formation and breaking of transition metal (TM)-carbon bonds plays a pivotal role in the catalysis of organic compounds, the reactivity of inorganometallic species, that is, those involving the transition metal (TM)-metalloid (E) bond, is of key importance in most conversions of metalloid derivatives catalyzed by TM complexes. This Review presents the background of inorganometallic catalysis and its development over the last 15 years. The results of mechanistic studies presented in the Review are related to the occurrence of TM-E and TM-H compounds as reactive intermediates in the catalytic transformations of selected metalloids (E = B, Si, Ge, Sn, As, Sb, or Te). The Review illustrates the significance of inorganometallics in catalysis of the following processes: addition of metalloid-hydrogen and metalloid-metalloid bonds to unsaturated compounds; activation and functionalization of C-H bonds and C-X bonds with hydrometalloids and bismetalloids; activation and functionalization of C-H bonds with vinylmetalloids, metalloid halides, and sulfonates; and dehydrocoupling of hydrometalloids. This first Review on inorganometallic catalysis sums up the developments in the catalytic methods for the synthesis of organometalloid compounds and their applications in advanced organic synthesis as a part of tandem reactions.

Schiff Base Cobalt(II) Complex-Catalyzed Highly Markovnikov-Selective Hydrosilylation of Alkynes.

A bench-stable cobalt(II) complex, with 3N-donor socket-type benzimidazole-imine-2H-imidazole ligand is reported as a precatalyst for regioselective hydrosilylation of terminal alkynes. Both aromatic and aliphatic alkynes could be effectively hydrosilylated with primary, secondary, and tertiary silane to give α-vinylsilanes in high yields with excellent Markovnikov selectivity and extensive functional-group tolerance. Catalyst loading varies within 0.5-0.05 mol %, which is one of the most efficient reported so far in the literature on cobalt-catalyzed alkyne hydrosilylation.

Graphene Oxide Hybrid with Sulfur-Nitrogen Polymer for High-Performance Pseudocapacitors.

Toward the introduction of fast faradaic pseudocapacitive behavior and the increase of the specific capacitance of carbon-based electrodes, we covalently functionalized graphene oxide with a redox active thiourea-formaldehyde polymer, yielding a multifunctional hybrid system. The multiscale physical and chemical characterization of the novel 3-dimensional hybrid revealed high material porosity with high specific surface area (402 m2 g-1) and homogeneous element distribution. The presence of multiple functional groups comprising sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen provide additional contribution of Faradaic redox reaction in supercapacity performance, leading to a high effective electrochemical pseudocapacitance. Significantly, our graphene-based 3-dimensional thiourea-formaldehyde hybrid exhibited specific capacitance as high as 400 F g-1, areal capacitance of 160 mF cm-2, and an energy density of 11.1 mWh cm-3 at scan rate of 1 mV s-1 with great capacitance retention (100%) after 5000 cycles at scan rate of 100 mV s-1.

Selective Hydrosilylation of Alkynes with Octaspherosilicate (HSiMe2 O)8 Si8 O12.

Comprehensive studies on platinum-catalyzed hydrosilylation of a wide range of terminal and internal alkynes with spherosilicate (HSiMe2 O)8 Si8 O12 (1 a) were performed. The influence of the reaction parameters and the types of reagents and catalysts on the efficiency of the process, which enabled the creation of a versatile and selective method to synthesize olefin octafunctionalized octaspherosilicates, was studied in detail. Within this work, twenty novel 1,2-(E)-disubstituted and 1,1,2-(E)-trisubstituted alkenyl-octaspherosilicates (3 a-m, 6 n-t) were selectively obtained with high yields, and fully characterized (1 H, 13 C, 29 Si NMR, FTIR, MALDI TOF or TOF MS ES+ analysis). Moreover, the molecular structure of the compound (Me3 Si(H)C=C(H)SiMe2 O)8 Si8 O12 (3 a) was determined by X-ray crystallography for the first time. The developed procedures are the first that allow selective hydrosilylation of terminal silyl, germyl, aryl, and alkyl alkynes with 1 a, as well as the direct introduction of sixteen functional groups into the 1 a structure by the hydrosilylation of internal alkynes. This method constituted a powerful tool for the synthesis of hyperbranched compounds with a Si-O based cubic core. The resulting products, owing to their unique structure and physicochemical properties, are considered novel, multifunctional, hybrid, and nanometric building blocks, intended for the synthesis of star-shaped molecules or macromolecules, as well as nanofillers and polymer modifiers. In the presented syntheses, commercially available reagents and catalysts were used, so these methods can be easily repeated, rapidly scaled up, and widely applied.

Sodium triethylborohydride as a catalyst for the dehydrogenative silylation of terminal alkynes with hydrosilanes.

The first example of sodium triethylborohydride-catalyzed C(sp)-H bond silylation is reported. The reaction of aromatic and aliphatic alkynes with aromatic hydrosilanes and hydrosiloxanes proceeded in a highly selective manner to afford dehydrocoupling products. Competitive hydrosilylation of the terminal alkyne did not occur as a side-reaction. In view of the above it is remarkable that NaHBEt3 is commonly used as a reducing agent generating active transition-metal catalysts in situ in other hydrosilylation reactions.

A stereoselective synthesis of (E)- or (Z)-ß-arylvinyl halides via a borylative coupling/halodeborylation protocol.

A new stereoselective method for the synthesis of (E)-ß-arylvinyl iodides and (E)- or (Z)-ß-arylvinyl bromides from styrenes and vinyl boronates on the basis of a one-pot procedure via borylative coupling/halodeborylation is reported. Depending on the halogenating agent as well as the mode of the halodeborylation reaction, (E) or (Z) isomers are selectively formed.

Ruthenium-catalyzed silylation of 1,3-butadienes with vinylsilanes.

A novel method for the synthesis of 1-silyl-substituted 1,3-butadienes, based on [RuHCl(CO)(PCy3)2]-catalyzed silylative coupling of terminal (E)-1,3-dienes with vinylsilanes, is reported. The reaction provides a facile and straightforward access to (E,E)-dienylsilanes in a highly stereoselective fashion (especially for aryl-substituted dienes) and opens a valuable and general synthetic route for the direct catalytic silylation of conjugated dienes with elimination of ethylene as a single byproduct. Preliminary results on synthetic application of the synthesized silylated 1,3-butadienes in desilylation reactions are described.

Highly selective hydrothiolation of unsaturated organosilicon compounds catalyzed by scandium(III) triflate.

The first use of a Lewis acid catalyst in the addition reaction of both aromatic and aliphatic thiols to unsaturated organosilicon compounds is reported. In catalytic tests, scandium(III) triflate demonstrates high catalytic activity in this process. Under mild conditions (25 °C, room temperature, 1-10 h) a number of thioether-functionalized organosilicon species are obtained with appreciable selectivity. This study constitutes the first example of allylsilane hydrothiolation that gives the Markovnikov regioisomer as the main product. Ethynylsilanes are also successfully used in the hydrothiolation reaction in the presence of Sc(OTf)3 .

Ruthenium-catalyzed dealkenative N-silylation of amines by substituted vinylsilanes.

The ruthenium hydride complex-catalyzed N-silylation of primary and secondary amines with substituted vinylsilanes, with the general formula R(1)CH=CHSiR (where R(1) = H, Ph, n-Bu, Si(OEt)3), leading to the formation of a Si-N bond with the evolution of olefin is described. Vinylsilane acts as a silylative reagent and hydrogen acceptor. Under optimum conditions, the reaction offers an attractive route for the synthesis of silylamines. The preliminary mechanistic view of this novel general silylation reaction based on catalytic and deuterium labeling experiments, using NMR and GC-MS methods, confirm the synthetic observations.

1-(Triethoxysilyl)buta-1,3-dienes-New Building Blocks for Stereoselective Synthesis of Unsymmetrical (E,E)-1,4-Disubstituted 1,3-dienes.

A convenient methodology for the highly stereoselective synthesis of unsymmetrical (1E,3E)-1,4-disubstituted 1,3-dienes based on palladium-catalyzed Hiyama cross-coupling reaction of 1-(triethoxysilyl)-substituted buta-1,3-dienes with aryl iodides is reported.

One-pot synthesis of (E)-styryl ketones from styrenes.

A new, efficient protocol for the highly stereoselective one-pot synthesis of (E)-styryl ketones from styrenes based on sequential ruthenium-catalyzed silylative coupling-rhodium-catalyzed desilylative acylation reactions is reported.

(E)-9-(2-iodovinyl)-9H-carbazole: a new coupling reagent for the synthesis of π-conjugated carbazoles.

The one-pot synthesis of (E)-9-(2-iodovinyl)-9H-carbazole via sequential ruthenium-catalyzed silylative coupling of N-vinylcarbazole with vinyltrimethylsilane and iododesilylation is reported. Its use as a new building block in the palladium-catalyzed Sonogashira and Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions to yield new carbazole-containing (E)-but-1-en-3-ynes and (E,E)-buta-1,3-dienes is demonstrated.

New one-pot synthesis of (E)-beta-aryl vinyl halides from styrenes.

A new, efficient protocol for the highly stereoselective one-pot synthesis of (E)-beta-aryl vinyl iodides and (E)-beta-aryl vinyl bromides from styrenes based on sequential ruthenium-catalyzed silylative coupling-N-halosuccinimide-mediated halodesilylation reactions is reported.

A new selective approach to 1,1-bis(silyl)-2-arylethenes and 1,1-bis(silyl)-1,3-butadienes via sequential silylative coupling-Heck coupling reactions.

A novel selective route to 1,1-bis(silyl)-1-alkenes has been developed. Sequential one-pot silylative coupling exo-cyclization of 1,2-bis(dimethylvinylsiloxy)ethane followed by the reaction with Grignard reagents leads to the desired 1,1-bis(silyl)ethenes, which are then efficiently coupled in the presence of silver nitrate and palladium acetate with aryl or alkenyl idodides to give the corresponding 1,1-bis(silyl)-2-arylethenes or 1,1,4-trisubstituted 1,3-butadienes with high yield.

A facile synthesis of 1,1-bis(silyl)ethenes.

Symmetrical 1,1-bis(silyl)ethenes have been easily prepared via ruthenium complex-catalyzed silylative coupling cyclization of 1,2-bis(dimethylvinylsiloxy)ethane to give 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-3-methylene-1,5-dioxa-2,4-disilacycloheptane with excellent selectivity and good yield, followed by its reaction with Grignard reagents. The cyclic product can also be effectively transformed into cyclic carbosiloxane, 2,2,4,4,6,6,8,8-octamethyl-3,7-dimethylene-1,5-dioxa-2,4,6,8-tetrasilacyclooctane.