Photochemical Reactions of (n(5)-Pentamethylcyclpentadienyl)-Dicarbonyliron-Alkyl and -Silyl Complexes: Reversible Ethylene Insertion into an Iron-Silicon Bond and Implications for the Mechanism of Transition Metal-Catalyzed Hydro

摘要

We wish to report three aspects of the photochemistry of (n5-C5Me5)Fe(CO)2R complexes, R = Me, Et, CH2CH2SiMe3 and SiMe3, which relate to a proposed mechanism for hydorsilation catalysis. These are (i) photochemically induced insertion of C2H4 into the Fe-Si bond of (n5-C5Me5)Fe(CO)2SiMe3, (ii) transfer of either the -SiMe3 group or a beta-H group upon photolysis of n5-C5Me5)Fe(CO)2CH2CH2SiMe3, and (iii) reductive elimination of alkane, RH, upon photoinduced oxidative addition of HSiR'3 (R' = Me, Et) to n5-C5Me5)Fe(CO)2R, R = Me, Et.