Hydrosilylation reactions catalysed by decacarbonyldimanganese(O)

Abstract Decacarbonyldimanganese(O) complex, Mn 2 (CO) 10 , has been evaluated as a catalyst for hydrosilylation reactions of 1-hexene with tertiary silanes, Et 3 SiH and (EtO) 3 SiH. The reaction of Et 3 SiH appears to be first order with respect to the catalyst, to the hexene and to the silane, although catalyst deactivation occurs when relatively high silane concentrations are used. The reaction rate is slightly affected by varying the type of the silane used. The rate of disappearance of the tertiary silane is consistent with that of the 1-hexene, which means that the catalyst is selective to hydrosilylation reactions. This was confirmed by following the rates of disappearance of Si-H and CC IR bands at 2210, 2100 and 1650 cm −1 for (EtO) 3 SiH, Et 3 SiH and 1-hexene respectively. A comparison of the behaviour of Mn 2 (CO) 10 with that of Co 2 (CO) 8 is reported here, together with a suggested mechanism for the manganese catalyst.