Coordinatively Saturated Tris(oxazolinyl)borato Zinc Hydride-Catalyzed Cross Dehydrocoupling of Silanes and Alcohols

The four-coordinate zinc compound ToMZnH (1, ToM = tris(4,4-dimethyl-2-oxazolinyl)phenylborate) catalyzes selective alcoholysis of substituted hydrosilanes. The catalytic reaction of PhMeSiH2 and aliphatic alcohols favors the monodehydrocoupled product PhMeHSi–OR. With the aryl alcohol 3,5-C6H3Me2OH, the selectivity for mono(aryloxy)hydrosilane PhMeHSiOC6H3Me2 and bis(aryloxy)silane PhMeSi(OC6H3Me2)2 is controlled by relative reagent concentrations. Reactions of secondary organosilanes and diols provide cyclic bis(oxo)silacycloalkanes in high yield. The empirical rate law for the ToMZnH-catalyzed reaction of 3,5-dimethylphenol and PhMeSiH2 is −d[PhMeSiH2]/dt = k′obs[ToMZnH]1[3,5-C6H3Me2OH]0[PhMeSiH2]1 (determined at 96 °C) which indicates that Si–O bond formation is turnover-limiting in the presence of excess phenol

Endo-Selective Enyne Ring-Closing Metathesis Promoted by Stereogenic-at-Mo Monoalkoxide and Monoaryloxide Complexes. Efficient Synthesis of Cyclic Dienes Not Accessible throught Reactions with Ru Carbenes

Stereogenic-at-Mo monoalkoxide and monoaryloxide complexes promote enyne ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reactions, affording the corresponding endo products with high selectivity (typically >98:98% endo).National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (GM-59426)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (DBI-0619576