Cobalt-Catalyzed Cyclization/Hydrosilylation Reaction of 1,6-Diynes Enabled by an Oxidative Cyclization–Hydrosilylation Mechanism

Abstract

Transition-metal-catalyzed cyclization/hydrosilylation of 1,6diynes is a useful method for the preparation of five-membered ring-fused silyl dienes that are useful reagents in organic synthesis. Only a handful of noble metal catalysts facilitating this transformation are known, and nonprecious metal catalysts effecting the reaction have remained elusive. Herein, we report that low-coordinate Co(0)-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes can catalyze the cyclization/hydrosilylation of 1,6-diynes with tertiary and secondary hydrosilanes, furnishing five-membered ring-fused (Z)-1-silyldienes in good yields and excellent stereoselectivity. Mechanistic study disclosed that the catalytic cycle likely has oxidative cyclization of 1,6diynes with Co(0) species as the key step. This mechanism accounts for the high stereoselectivity and absence of uncyclized hydrosilylation byproducts in the cobalt-catalyzed cyclization/hydrosilylation reaction, which is different from the hydrosilylation-cyclization mechanism of the noble metal-catalyzed reactions.