An Iridium Complex with a Phosphine‐Pendant Silyl Ligand as an Efficient Catalyst for the (E)‐Selective Semihydrogenation of Alkynes

Abstract

AbstractTwo iridium disilyl complexes that contain phosphine‐pendant silyl groups have been obtained from the reaction of [(cod)IrCl]2 with a disilane with phosphine pendants, (Ph2PCH2)R2Si−SiR2(CH2PPh) (R=Me or Ph). The iridium complex with methyl‐substituted silyl moieties showed good catalytic performance in the (E)‐selective semihydrogenation of various alkynes at room temperature under 1 atm of H2 without over‐reduction to the corresponding alkanes.