Catalytic study of heterobimetallic rhodium complexes derived from partially alkylated s-indacene in dehydrogenative silylation of olefins

This work describes the catalytic study of heterobimetallic rhodium compounds derived from partially alkylated s-indacene in dehydrogenative silylation of olefins in order to elucidate as much as possible the effects of: solvent, temperature, chemical substrates, olefin effect, silane effect, and secondary metallic fragment. The rhodium complexes, anti-[Cp*Fe-s-Ic′-Rh(COD)] 1, anti-[Cp*Ru-s-Ic′-Rh(COD)] 2, and syn-[Cp*Ru-s-Ic′-Rh(COD)] 2′ (with s-Ic′: 2,6-diethyl-4,8-dimethyl-s-indaceneiide) were previously synthesized and characterized, and were compared with the catalytic activity of the complexes previously reported; monometallic [(COD)Rh-s-Ic′H] 3, and homobimetallic anti-[{(COD)Rh}2-s-Ic′] 4, and syn-[{(COD)Rh}2-s-Ic′] 4′. The heterobimetallic complexes show a high activity and selectivity for the dehydrogenative silylation of styrene and these complexes show also the presence of a cooperative effect between both metallic centers, which is evidenced when compared with monometallic complex.