Metathesis of silicon-containing olefins. X. Metathesis of vinyltrimethylsilane catalyzed by ruthenium complexes

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/0022-328X(94)84049-0

Self metathesis of vinyltrimethylsilane in the presence of an oxygenated benzene solution of RuCl2(PPh3)3 and RuH2(PPh3)4 follows an unusual course and yields two products, 1,2-bis(silyl)ethene (E) and 1,1-bis(silyl)ethene, with products of dimerization, namely 1,4-bis(silyl)butenes-2 (E + Z) and butenylsilanes as well as hexamethyldisiloxane.Gaseous ethylene and traces of ethane were also detected.It is proposed that vinylsilane is inserted into the Ru-Si bond (via ortho-metallation of the ruthenium triphenylphosphine complex) in competition with pathways involving metal-carbene species.Complexes of ruthenium containing no phenylphosphine give stereoselectively only the (E)-product of metathesis (even in the absence of oxygen and hydrosilane co-catalysts) accompanied by traces of the same by-products. Key words: Silicon; Ruthenium; Metathesis; Olefin