Synthesis of asymmetrical β-diketiminate magnesium methyl complexes and their catalytic application in cyanosilylation of ketones

Abstract

Two asymmetrical β-diketiminate magnesium methyl complexes [(DippArNacnac)MgMe(THF)] have been synthesized in high yields and structurally characterized via single crystal X-ray diffraction etc. Subsequently, they have been successfully employed as highly efficient catalysts in the cyanosilylation of ketones including natural products with low catalyst loading (0.2 mol %) under the solvent-free condition at room temperature. A plausible mechanism was proposed base on the corresponding stoichiometric experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations.