Hydrosilylation of Alkenes by α-Diimine Nickel Catalyst

Chirik et al. have reported the hydrosilylation of alkenes using 2,3-Bis(2,6-diisopropylphenylimino)butane (1) and a nickel catalyst. In this reaction, tertiary alkoxysilanes and silolysilanes can be used for this transformation where the related hydrosilylated products are given in good yield with high anti-Markovnikov selectivity. In addition, similar transformations using bifunctional terminal alkenes and polymeric tertiary hydrosilanes can readily be crosslinked to afford the desired silicone polymers. This synthetic approach is expected to be applied to homogeneous hydrosilylation aiming for industrial uses.