The chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective iron-catalysed hydrosilylation of alkenes and alkynes with excellent functional group tolerance is reported (34 examples, 41-96% yield). The catalyst and reagents are commercially available and easy to handle, with the active iron catalyst being generated in situ, thus providing a simple and practical methodology for iron-catalysed hydrosilylation. The silane products can be oxidised to the anti-Markovnikov product of olefin hydration, and the one-pot iron-catalysed hydrosilylation-oxidation of olefins to give silane(di)ols directly is also reported. The iron pre-catalyst was used at loadings as low as 0.07 mol%, and displayed catalyst turnover frequencies (TOF) approaching 60,000 mol h
À1. Initial mechanistic studies indicate an iron(I) active catalyst.Keywords: catalysis; hydrosilylation; iron; olefins; synthetic methods Iron offers significant advantages as a catalyst over precious metals due to its low toxicity, low cost, natural abundance and sustainable long-term commercial availability.[1] Although iron catalysis is well established for cross-coupling [2] and redox reactions, [3] the hydrofunctionalisation of olefins has been less developed. In part, this can be attributed to the procedurally challenging reaction conditions and catalyst syntheses required, in comparison to the simplicity of ironcatalysed cross-coupling reactions. Building upon our work, [4] and previous work of others, [5] in which lowvalent iron catalysts were generated in situ, we sought to develop an operationally simple iron-catalysed hydrosilylation of olefins, in which all reagents were inexpensive, widely available and bench-stable. Furthermore, we sought to use this method for the introduction of silyl groups which could undergo further synthetic transformations (Figure 1).The hydrosilylation of alkenes and alkynes can produce alkyl-, allyl-, and vinylsilanes, [6] which are used in fine chemical synthesis for stereospecific oxidation [7] and cross-coupling reactions, [8] amongst other applications (Figure 1).[9] The cross-linking of silicone polymers by hydrosilylation represents one of the largest applications of homogeneous catalysis on an industrial scale.[6] To date, hydrosilylation has been dominated by precious metal catalysts such as platinum, palladium, ruthenium and rhodium, however these catalysts can suffer from competitive alkene isomerisation, dehydrosilylation reactions, and incompatibility with amino-substituted olefins.