Ruthenium carbonyl-catalysed Si–heteroatom X coupling (X = S, O, N)

Ru3(CO)12 has been shown to catalyse the coupling of silanes with thiols, alcohols and amines with turnover number (TON) and turnover frequency (TOF) of up to 200 and 50 h−1 at 80 °C. IR, NMR and mass spectroscopic studies have identified a ruthenium dimer complex, [Ru(CO)4(SiEt3)]2 as a likely resting state of the catalyst. A mechanism involving this complex has been proposed for the silicon–thiol coupling process.