Visible-Light-Mediated Metal-Free Hydrosilylation of Alkenes through Selective Hydrogen Atom Transfer for Si-H Activation

Abstract

Although there has been significant progress in the development of transition-metal-catalyzed hydrosilylations of alkenes over the past several decades, metal-free hydrosilylation is still rare and highly desirable. Herein, we report a convenient visible-light-driven metal-free hydrosilylation of both electron-deficient and electron-rich alkenes that proceeds through selective hydrogen atom transfer for Si-H activation. The synergistic combination of the organophotoredox catalyst 4CzIPN with quinuclidin-3-yl acetate enabled the hydrosilylation of electron-deficient alkenes by selective Si-H activation while the hydrosilylation of electron-rich alkenes was achieved by merging photoredox and polarity-reversal catalysis.

Keywords: alkenes; hydrogen atom transfer; hydrosilylation; photocatalysis; polarity reversal.