New Zinc Catalyst for Hydrosilylation of Carbonyl Compounds

A new zinc complex was synthesized and applied in the catalytic hydrosilylation of carbonyl compounds. Optimization of the reaction conditions showed that the presence a substoichiometric amount of methanol accelerates the process significantly. The reaction can proceed at very low catalyst load (down to 0.1 mol%) under mild reaction conditions. The reaction tolerates the presence of C=C bonds, and thus can be useful for the synthesis of allylic alcohols from alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones.