Hydrosilylation of Aldehydes and Ketones Catalyzed by an N‐Heterocyclic Carbene‐Nickel Hydride Complex under Mild Conditions

Abstract

Abstract Half‐sandwich N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC)‐nickel complexes of the general formula [Ni(NHC)ClCp † ] (Cp † =Cp, Cp*) efficiently catalyze the hydrosilylation of aldehydes and ketones at room temperature in the presence of a catalytic amount of sodium triethylborohydride and thus join the fairly exclusive club of well‐defined nickel(II) catalyst precursors for the hydrosilylation of carbonyl functionalities. Of notable interest is the isolation of an intermediate nickel hydride complex that proved to be the real catalyst precursor.