Air-stable Zn⁺² based hydrosilylation catalyst

The hydrosilylation reaction, which enables the addition of silicon hydrides across C–C multiple bonds, is an efficient method for the formation of organosilicon compounds and represents one of the most important reactions in silicon chemistry. Most catalytic hydrosilylation methods involve the use of Platinum-based catalysts, which are expensive, scarce and toxic. Hence, their replacement by cheaper and less toxic catalysts is appealing. The use of zinc in this perspective is of a great interest because of its abundance, biological relevance and distinct abilities. Here we report the synthesis of air-stable di-cationic Zn complex embedded in tri dentate ligand, which is a very active catalyst in C-C multiple bond hydrosilylation reaction.