Transition metal free catalytic hydroboration of aldehydes and aldimines by amidinato silane

Abstract

The transition metal free catalytic hydroboration of aldehydes and ketones is very limited and has not been reported with a well-defined silicon(IV) compound. Therefore, we chose to evaluate the previously reported silicon(IV) hydride [PhC(NtBu)₂SiHCl₂], (1) as a single component catalyst and found that it catalyzes the reductive hydroboration of a range of aldehydes with pinacolborane (HBpin) under ambient conditions. In addition, compound 1 can catalyze imine hydroboration. DFT calculation was carried out to understand the mechanism.