Progress in the preparation and characterization of silylene iron, cobalt and nickel complexes

Abstract

The synthesis and characterization of Fe, Co and Ni complexes supported by silylene ligands in the past ten years are summarized. Due to the decrease of the electron cloud density on the Si atom after coordination, the downfield shift of the ²⁹Si chemical shift is accompanied by the coordination between the free silylene ligand and metal. The strong electron-donating ability of silylene makes the metal center more electron-rich, which is conducive to the oxidative addition reaction in the metal center. In some cases, the coordination ability of silylene is stronger than those of phosphine and carbene ligands. Therefore, silylene transition metal complexes have better catalytic activity. The further challenges in this field are to develop new polydentate silylene ligands, synthesize chelate silylene–phosphine and silylene–carbene ligands, and design new silylene transition metal complexes for more catalytic research.